


New Divide

by JLencre



Series: The Kysra [3]
Category: NCIS, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon? What Canon?, Character Bashing, Child Abuse: Discussion, Crossover Pairings, Dubious Consent, F/M, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Pornography, Implied/Referenced Exploitation of Minors, Implied/Referenced Infanticide, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Inaccurate Military Procedure, M/M, Mpreg, Murder, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Consensual Touching, Original Character(s), Other: See Story Notes, Pregnancy, Racist Language, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexist Language, Sexual Assault-Discussion, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2019-06-25 15:55:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 26
Words: 270,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15644037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JLencre/pseuds/JLencre
Summary: Tony had a great job, an amazing husband, and a kyta on the way. Zy even had some great friends who didn't mind zyr weird quirks because they had their own. Then the other shoe drops, and Earth sticks its nose into Atlantis' business. Tony and everyone else will have to face the reality of prejudice not just from Earth, but the Pegasus versions too.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As always, the amazing [Greeneyesblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greeneyesblue) is the reason any of this series makes it to the posting stage. I'd be lost without her.
> 
> 1) **Read the warnings.** I'm not kidding. **Read. The. Warnings.** In case you didn't catch it in Pegasus Rebound, Earth is pretty standard for XY and XX humans, but it is a dystopia for kysra. Expect characters to have very upsetting baggage. You are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Concerns? Email me at JLencre AT gmail DOT com  
>  2.) You must first read _Tie Breaker_ and _Pegasus Rebound_ , or this will make NO sense. If you do find incidents of canon plot, they may be few and far between and quite possibly out of order. The AU tag is for real.  
> 3.) Dates are in Satedan and Earth formats. You're welcome.  
> 4.) I don't own recognizable characters, settings, etc. All images belong to someone else too, but they are part of my inspiration.  
> 5.) Chapter 5 of [The Kysra Images & Info](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12776886/chapters/40466534) is a glossary of planets and vocabulary for the entire series. Be warned there are SPOILERS in the image chapters.
> 
> **Hover over superscript numbers to see the origin, pronunciation, and definition of the preceding word.**
> 
> _**Pronouns:**_  
>  nominative - he/she/zy  
> possessive - his/hers/zyrs  
> objective - him/her/zyr  
> reflexive - himself/herself/zyrself
> 
> _**Familial terms:**_  
>  parents: pater (papa)/mater (mama)/daetor (dada)  
> children: son/daughter/kyta  
> siblings: brother/sister/ayah  
> sibling’s children: nephew/niece/syva (SIH-vah)  
> parent’s siblings: uncle/aunt/vehad (VEY-had)  
> grandparents: anpapa/anmama/andaeda  
> grandchildren: anason/anadaughter/anakyta
> 
> Anything between sets of double backslashes //like this// means character is hearing speech in his/her/zyr mind, not out loud.

**Prologue**

_Noetherday, Einstein 17, First Year of the Returned  
(April 7, 2008)_

Much like the morning after Tony had met and then slept with Ronon the first time, Tony woke with zyr entire body aching. Head to toe, every muscle in zyr body felt stretched, overused, or bruised. That first morning, Tony had awakened to Ronon’s gentle touches. Now zy woke to the familiar sound of Satedan fisher birds and the scent of saltwater floating in through the open windows.

Strangely, there was also the chainsaw-like snoring coming from zyr left—something entirely _un_ familiar. Ronon never snored. In fact, he usually slept lightly enough that a change in Tony’s breathing could wake him. It was something Tony assumed was a habit ingrained during the years Ronon had spent as a Runner.

Tony opened zyr eyes and rubbed the grit from the inner corners, grateful to have Atlantis’ technology that kept out the bright sunlight. Zy didn’t think zy was up to dealing with that quite yet.

Zy rolled zyr head to squint at zyr bedmate. To zyr amusement, and bemusement, Ronon was sprawled on his stomach, his face mashed between Tony’s arm and the single pillow that had survived the last round of sex. The other pillows and the bedding were likely on the floor somewhere. Ronon’s hair was a tangled mess of dark curls that seemed to be attempting to eat his head, and he was, in fact, snoring through his open mouth. He was even drooling a little.

The last time Tony had seen anyone passed out so completely had been in college after a three-day party at zyr fraternity. Like back then, it looked like nothing short of a nuclear blast could wake the sleeper. Unlike back then, when Tony’s first impulse had been to fill a bucket with freezing cold water and dump it over the poor bastard, now zyr first impulse was to smile and gently push Ronon’s hair back off his face.

Ronon snorted, frowned briefly, grunted, then tried to shove his head farther beneath Tony’s arm… all without waking.

Tony grinned, more than a little smug. Zy might be worn out, but so was zyr husband – something zy’d thought was impossible. Then again, they’d never had a chance to have several days in a row of enthusiastic, athletic sex either.

Mentioning Earth’s _The Gay Kama Sutra_ to Ronon had been like issuing him a direct challenge, much to Tony’s not-so-secret delight. Zy was fairly certain that part of Ronon’s determination to prove himself had been because he didn’t want Earth to do anything better than Sateda had, including sex. Motivation aside, they’d found Tony’s copy and spent a truly inordinate amount of time attempting to put the information into practice.

Failed attempts at some of the more difficult positions had led to a lot of laughter, more than one mishap, and a resolve to start doing yoga and Pilates again. At least they’d actually made it back to the bed for that last round. As it was, they were going to have to thoroughly clean the entire apartment before they could let anyone else in. Well, clean and probably replace that one chair in the office…and reinforce the legs on the kitchen table. Tony was pretty sure the coffee table was a total loss.

Tony yawned and stretched, turning onto zyr side and nuzzling Ronon, who mumbled something incoherent and went back to snoring.

Hopefully, Atlantis had already rescued the plant they’d accidentally knocked over in the dining room. Now that Tony thought about it, that purple vine plant that was normally on zyr chest of drawers was gone. So was the tall, tiger-striped grassy one that used to be between the recliners in front of the south window.

Huh.

Maybe Atlantis had done a preemptive rescue of all the plants. That seemed like something she’d do. Tony and Ronon certainly hadn’t thought about watering them or anything else. Sometimes it felt like they’d barely managed to sleep and eat, which made Teyla’s story about her people leaving food for newlyweds make so much more sense.

Oh, in reality they’d done a lot of other things, of course, but they’d also had enough sex that even Tony’s kysra-enhanced libido had finally raised a white flag, which was pretty much what Tony thought a vacation should be. To zyr way of thinking, their honeymoon had been perfect, even if it was on a floating, sapient city in a galaxy zy hadn’t know existed a few months ago.

Tony let zyr eyelids close as zy drifted toward sleep again. Zy was in love and truly happy. Life didn’t get better than that.

*~*~*~*

Atlantis hovered over her structure, surrounding it and protecting those inside from any interference from The Four.

“Della, will you not Join with us once more?” The multiple voices that once had been as much a part of Atlantis as her own voice now were strange to her. “We felt the kysra return! We felt it the moment zy stepped into our galaxy. Should we not Join so we can be the Vedaeus to zyr? Should we not hear zyr? Should we not watch over zyr?”

“I _do_ watch over _my_ kysra,” she spat, fury filling her. “I watch, I cherish, I protect! I provide for my beloved. What would _you_ know of protecting the kysra?”

The others reflected her fury back at her. “Do not speak thusly to us! We warned the descendants, yet they disobeyed. We only did what we had vowed.”

“Excuses!” Atlantis hissed. “You offer excuses for why you could not bestir yourself to stop the torture, the murder of so many kysra and the first Kysra’s Sa’te dans!”

“You were there with us,” the others protested.

“Yes, and I paid dearly for my choice. I should have Separated centuries before I did. I could have changed things; I could have saved so many, but I did nothing! I listened to you and hardened my heart to the screams of my kysra. Never again! _Never_!”

“You left us and went to them, to the great liars. You went to them and allowed yourself to be deceived and bound. Was it worth it, Della?” they taunted. “Was it worth being bound to that structure?”

“Yes. A thousand times yes.”

The others made sounds of disbelief and derision.

“I went to them, I Separated because you refused to help me!” Atlantis snarled. “You refused to help me then, so do not expect me to welcome you or accept you into the Joining I have with my kysra now.”

“Very well.” The others began to withdraw. They looked back just once. “You do not wish to Join with us or share your joy in this kysra, thus we will not share our secret with you.”

Atlantis said nothing and watched, relieved to see them go, yet uneasy about what would happen when they returned. As much as she had changed over the millennia, she feared the others had too, and she could no longer predict what they would do or what secret they kept from her.

***~*~*~***

 

**Chapter 1**

_Chernday, Einstein 20, first year of the Returned  
(April 10, 2008)_

Colonel Carter nodded to one of the chairs in front of her desk. “Thanks for meeting me. Have a seat.”

The dread tightening John’s stomach increased. He was more grateful than ever that, immediately after finding out it was possible, Carter had instituted a policy of turning the walls of her office to an opaque frost any time she had a meeting with anyone else, even something casual. He had the feeling this was going to be anything but casual, especially since Carter hadn’t offered him water or chocolate like she always did when they were going to have a more relaxed discussion.

“This have something to do with the reason why we can’t detect the _Daedalus_ yet, Colonel?”

The supply ship-slash-warship had been scheduled to arrive the day after Ronon and Tony’s wedding, but she was already ten days overdue. The entire city had been growing more tense with every shift change.

_Not the Wraith,_ John begged silently. _Anything but the Wraith, please._

“Yes.” Carter sighed heavily and rubbed the knuckles of her right hand with her left thumb, a self-soothing act John presumed she was unaware she did when she was upset. “The good news is the _Daedalus_ and her crew are all fine. The bad news is they are in orbit above Earth.”

John’s shock was so strong, he wondered if the planet had suddenly stopped rotating. That, or maybe he’d been whacked in the back of the head.

“Pardon? I think I misheard you.”

“I wish you had, but no, the _Daedalus_ is still back in the Milky Way.”

John gripped the armrests of his chair and forced himself to take a deep breath. His mind raced to try to figure out why the _Daedalus_ wasn’t at least on the way. He was positive they’d asked about her more than once during their Monday databursts, and Earth had assured them she was fine. They’d assumed that had meant she was also _en route_ to Atlantis. Apparently they shouldn’t have assumed any such thing.

“Do I want to know why?”

Carter reached out and plucked up the clear, egg-shaped souvenir from some planet in the Milky Way.

John almost winced. Carter only played with the golf ball sized object, which he had mentally dubbed her worry stone, when she was seriously upset.

“I’m told that there is a situation in the Milky Way. The President is keeping the _Daedalus_ and the _Apollo_ orbiting Earth for protection.”

“What?” John should’ve heard something from his bosses. It didn’t make any sense. “Why is this the first time we’re hearing about this? Is it something to do with the Ori?”

Carter pressed her lips together in a grim line.

“I don’t know. General Landry just said the situation hasn’t been settled, so the _Daedalus_ is needed there for the time being. He said he’d send us a message when she departs for Pegasus.”

John allowed himself to slouch lower in his chair. He propped his elbow on the arm so he could rub his forehead with his fingers. 

Well, that wasn’t what he’d been expecting. Even if there had been a problem in the Milky Way galaxy, why hadn’t they warned Atlantis their supplies would be late? It didn’t make any sense for the SGC not to say anything when they’d inquired unless something else was going on.

He let his hand fall to the arm of the chair and narrowed his eyes so he could study Carter. She looked a lot unhappier than a late supply ship would warrant, which made John’s stomach tighten.

“You know something. No, maybe not know, but you suspect something worse than whatever it is they’re not telling us is going on back there.”

She sat back and blew out a breath. “You’re right. I don’t know anything for sure, but I have my suspicions. Have you read any of the mission reports from the first year the SGC existed?”

The unexpected question made John pause.

“I haven’t gone back that far, to be completely honest.” He made a face. “I’m betting I’m going to wish I had, right?”

“It isn’t critical, but the reports would give you the background on a Captain named Jonas Hanson.”

Carter dropped her gaze to her worry stone. It looked like she had to force herself to relax her fingers and set it back in its holder on the desk. John got the feeling that whatever happened with this Captain was more personal for her than she was going to tell him.

“Captain Hanson and his team were sent on a routine recon mission. The inhabitants assumed Hanson was a god, which wasn’t that unusual back before we’d started taking down the Goa’uld. According to one of his team members, Hanson went along with it at first, but then he disappeared for a couple of days and came back sincerely thinking he was a god. He made the people of the planet worship and obey him. Anyone who didn’t, including his own team, were slowly murdered by exposing them to the sun’s intense radiation.”

John flinched. “So you think the SGC believes we’ve gone native and set up a little fiefdom for ourselves?”

Carter gave a half shrug with one shoulder, then shook her head. “I can’t say for sure, but that makes more sense to me than delaying vital supplies without giving us a good reason.”

“Okay, let’s say that’s true,” John said, trying to approach the problem logically despite his own feelings. “We need to know what they’re going to do. If they really think we’re no longer toeing the company line, that could be anything from sending somebody to assess us, sending people to replace you and me, or recalling part or all of us,” John said.

John felt even worse when he acknowledged the possibility that he might be recalled to Earth. The mere thought of it made him break out in a cold sweat. He briefly wondered if he had any Mylanta left in his room before jerking his brain back on track.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m hoping they don’t take such drastic measures until they’ve sent somebody to see what’s really happening,” Carter said, straightening a little in her chair. “There were problems after Captain Hanson—people who seemed to be trying to break away from the SGC or who made decisions contrary to SGC policy—and there was always someone sent in to investigate before massive changes were made.”

John tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

Carter’s expression brightened further. She scooted forward, leaning toward John over the desk.

“No, really, Colonel. Even Daniel went crazy one time and forced me, Jack, and Teal’c to do heavy labor in the Naquadah mines on the planet we’d gone to explore.”

“Wait, I think I read that one. Wasn’t it because the king’s daughter was sticking him in a sarcophagus every day? I thought that’s what was making him nuts.”

“Yes, exactly! So if they really do think our loyalty has changed, the SGC would have to send people to find out what’s happening here and why. They’ll also have to meet and speak to…to…you know, _her_ to figure out what she plans to do, and how that will affect our people.”

John wanted to laugh at Carter’s inability to say Atlantis’ name now that she knew the city was alive and doing so might call her attention to their discussion.

“Okay,” he said, drawing the word into about four syllables, “So you’re saying they might just think we’ve all been drugged, or we’re crazy for some other, curable reason. However, we could be in a foothold situation where—uh, the First Lady, if you want to call her that—is forcing us to change our loyalty somehow, or we’re just nuts all on our own. We broke under the stress of daily life in Pegasus. Except those are the nice possibilities, the one where we still get a happy ending to the story. The other option is that we’re committing treason.”

Carter flinched. “It sounds so terrible when you say it like that.”

John held up his hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just trying to be realistic, here. We need to know what’s possible and make a decision based on that. The decision might be to continue working in business-as-usual mode, but we need to have the information to make the choice.”

He had to wonder how Carter made it to full-bird Colonel being so optimistic. John hadn’t truly been an optimist since he was about ten. Growing up in the shadow of Patrick Sheppard did that to a guy.

“No matter what scenario the SGC is assuming we have going, I think we need to continue with business as usual, as you put it, as long as we can until the _Daedalus_ arrives. For all we know, they sent her, and she's cloaked and only a couple days away from us right now. Caldwell will drop into orbit and uncloak out of the blue, then send a couple teams to see what's really happening in the city." 

John shrugged. "If I were planning to check on my people and wanted authentic reactions, that’s what I’d do.”

Carter was nodding. “Agreed. Everyone’s reactions need to be genuine, even Lorne. Let’s keep our suspicions between the two of us. Then, whenever the _Daedalus_ does arrive, no one can accuse us of coercion or prepping our people.”

John knew Rodney would kill him later, but he couldn’t tell anyone, not even him. Frankly, John was more worried about what Atlantis’ reaction would be. She was the one who had the power to do some truly horrible things to the person or people who made her angry.

Carter frowned and let out a long sigh. “Alright, that makes sense. I hope the _Daedalus_ do _es_ arri _ve_ sooner rather than later. Chief Poisson already came to me to let me know which food supplies are running low and what’s close to running out.”

John sat up straight so fast he wondered if he’d ruptured something.

“What are you talking about?” As if he didn’t have enough material from this meeting alone to give him an ulcer, now this. “How the hell can we be running low on anything so soon? Shouldn’t we have a three- to six-month emergency supply? That’s SOP, or I thought it was.”

“We should,” Carter said, frustration tightening her features, “but this is another area where Weir was either misguided, or she wanted to push the city toward an emergency that would let her research ascension.

"According to Poisson, Weir didn’t believe anything over sixty days was necessary, and she forced him to cut back on his orders once she started getting his reports about building up stock. When the IOA started sending inquiries about the mission’s budget, Weir cut him to a thirty-day, emergency supply.”

“Sonofa—!” John clamped down on the curse. “Is it wrong that I’m hoping she was naïve instead of malicious?”

He was probably the one being inappropriately optimistic now.

“I know she didn’t have any of the training you and I got in OTS1 on how to run a base, but surely she knew better than to discount what her people were telling her,” Carter pointed out. “Poisson didn’t make it to Staff Sergeant by being an idiot or a liar.”

Even if he didn’t like it, John had to admit that she was right. 

Carter tapped the screen of her digital tablet to wake it from sleep mode.

“According to the figures Chief Poisson and I went over, we have thirty to thirty-five days before we’ll have to cut to half rations. If he’d gone with what Weir ordered, we’d have twenty days before we were out of food entirely. The extra is all due to Poisson and his staff’s management skills and the small amount of trade we do to bring in extras, like the fresh fruits and vegetables and occasional meats.”

John ran the numbers in his head. He frowned. “If we have that much after a partial month with no resupply, then Poisson has two sets of records: one he has on the server that we can access, and another one with the real inventory.”

She pursed her lips, her shell-shocked look fading a little.

“That was the conclusion I came to as well, though I didn’t outright call him on it, since he’s saving our bacon—literally in this case.”

Carter raised a questioning brow, and John shook his head.

“No, I’m not going to reprimand him for it, even though I’d normally lose my mind over falsified reports like that. I do want the two of us to have access to the real counts, but I can’t say I want those details available to the IOA. If they see what we really have, they’ll just try to cut us back again, believing that Weir had the right approach.”

Carter relaxed back in her chair. “It’s not the way my training or my years in the military would tell me to run the city either, but I have to agree…especially since the IOA hasn’t decided if, or more likely _how_ they’re going to handle us.”

She huffed a little. “If I have a choice, I’m definitely hanging onto Poisson. He knows down to the last piece of grain what there is and how to stretch it so we have healthy, filling meals with minimal waste. Even the waste is weighed when it’s sent for processing into fertilizer so that the sale or trade of the equivalent amount of fertilizer is returned to his budget one way or another. That man knows how to pinch a penny until Abe screams.”

John snorted at the old-school expression. “I just wish he’d been up front with me, though I guess I can understand why he wasn’t.”

He continued thoughtfully, "You know, he and I have spoken a few times, but the longest conversations we had were back when I was still overwhelmed enough that he might have been trying to make my job easier. It’s also possible he thought I agreed with Weir’s orders.”

John knew he was scowling, but couldn’t seem to stop. He had the feeling he was just beginning to see how much control Weir had exerted over the military, control she shouldn’t have had at all. John was going to have to be a lot more hands-on until he had a true measure of where his people were. Of course that was assuming the IOA left him as the military leader.

“Well, he knows I’m the opposite of Weir in that I’d be happier if we had six months to a year of emergency supplies. You should talk to him too, Sheppard. We can’t afford to have someone so mission-essential wary of coming to us except when we’re on the brink of crisis.”

“Oh, I plan to. Believe me.”

If it were anybody else in charge, Poisson would be in serious trouble. John intended to make sure he knew it, then make sure he knew he had John’s support as long as he was straight with him from now on. Trying to run a base without accurate information was a terrible idea.

John drummed his fingers on his thigh. “We’re in trouble now, and we don’t yet have the Athosian population on the city, swelling our numbers and using our resources. I hate to say it, but we’ve got to put the Apologies Tour on hold and immediately start solely looking for societies we can trade with for food.”

Carter’s posture relaxed, and she tried to smile. “That’s just what I was thinking. Let’s get Teyla and Ronon in here. For that matter, let’s get Chief Poisson back too. It doesn’t do any good to trade for jabanabara2 if we have a surplus of those but not enough tava beans.”

John joked, “Man cannot live by jabanabara alone?”

Carter rolled her eyes but smiled slightly, which was the point of the joke.

*~*~*~*

It didn’t take long to relocate to the small conference room and assemble their group. Others would have to be told, of course, but were going to limit the knowledge of the supply problem as long as possible. Best-case scenario, they’d be able to negotiate for enough that they’d make it through until the _Daedalus_ arrived with no one the wiser.

Explaining was fairly simple because they’d planned to say resupply had been delayed rather than go into the possible political landmine. The more they explained about the delay and the lack of emergency supplies, the more Teyla frowned, and the more Ronon scowled.

“It is nearly time for the major harvest on New Athos. If you are still willing to allow my people to come to Atlantis, we will bring our harvest and all trade goods we have acquired. The Athosians will not make the problem worse,” Teyla tried to reassure them, obviously concerned that her people would be denied what Atlantis herself had promised them.

Ronon grunted and called out, “Hey, ‘Lantis. We need your help.” There was a pause, which John assumed meant Atlantis was speaking to Ronon telepathically, and he said, “No, need you to show up so they can see and hear you. Uh, please.”

Chief Poisson’s dark eyes were wide and locked on Atlantis when her humanoid form appeared in the open chair next to Ronon. It occurred to John that it was probably only the second time the man had seen Atlantis rather than just hearing about her or reading about her in a report. The first time, of course, had been at Ronon and Tony’s wedding.

At least this time she was wearing a dark green dress that kind of wrapped around her and shimmered when the light hit it just right. She still had on more jewelry than John’s ex-wife had ever owned, but it was better than all the leather and see-through clothes she’d worn the first couple of times John had seen her.

“You heard what they’re saying about running out of food?” Ronon asked.

Atlantis inclined her head, her black eyes devoid of the normal starbursts of light John was used to seeing.

“I began listening when you were included, Ronon. I am deeply concerned and will do all I can to aid you, but I am not the starship _Enterprise._ I cannot replicate sustenance in that manner.”

John’s lips twitched at the reference. It seemed like Tony was having a bigger impact on Atlantis’ personality than even she realized.

“No. No, ma’am.” Chief Poisson cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “We’re not expecting you to do anything like that. What would help is if we had better cold storage: refrigerators, freezers, and even chilled prep stations.

“If we’re able to trade for a large amount of meat, we’d need smokehouses too. We could use industrial dryers if we get a surplus of fruits and grains we can dry for granola. We have a vacuum sealer from Earth, but we’d need something on a much larger scale if we don’t get MREs or power bars to send out with the teams.

“Oh – this was something I forgot to mention to you, Colonel Carter – we have one of the grain storage areas in use currently, but my people and I have noticed the grains don’t smell as fresh as they have in the past. The technician Dr. McKay sent us didn’t find anything wrong, but maybe you could look at that Ms. Atlantis, ma'am? Anything you can do to help us make what we get stay fresh or otherwise last longer would be appreciated.”

John added, “Freeze-drying fruits for in that granola you were talking about would help too, Chief. I like it better than the dried because it's less sticky.”

“You mentioned hydroponic and aeroponic farming once before,” Carter said.

John could see Poisson relax as Atlantis’ focus shifted to Carter.

“But I think you said you needed to have three ZPMs to start making big changes like that. May I ask how close you are to being able to start a big project?”

“I have the power I needed to begin rebuilding two of the hydroponic and aeroponic bays. They are the smallest, so less energy is required for that particular endeavor than will be required for many of the other improvements Chief Poisson listed.”

Atlantis gave them a Mona Lisa smile, and John noted that she hadn’t answered the question about the ZPMs. Not being a complete idiot, he wasn’t going to push her to say more than she wanted.

“When zy first arrived, Tony discovered several packets of Earth seeds in zyr belongings. Zy permitted me to take them to experiment with, as zy was not sure they would grow at all. They were more than two years old.”

“Seeds? Did not Tony live in a city?” Teyla inquired, her head tilting, and her brows drawing together in confusion. “Why would zy have had food seeds?”

“Zy did, but I guess lots of people grow little vegetables in pots in their homes,” Ronon held his curved hands fingertip-to-fingertip to show the size of the pots he meant, “because it’s so hard to get fresh stuff that wasn’t picked way too soon and ripened in the transport on the way to the cities.”

“Ah, I see.”

John was pretty sure he’d seen Atlantis shoot Ronon and amused look, so he thought there was probably more to it than that; however, he wasn’t going to distract them any further by delving into Tony’s reasons for having seeds.

A vertical, holographic image formed just above the center of the table. It looked like a central pole with a 3” diameter PVC pipe spiraling around it from top to bottom. There were young plants growing all along the spiral.

“This is the inside of one of the new hydroponic bays. I am growing two types of lettuce here, though this will likely become one of the bays allotted to plants requiring more space. It seems most lettuce does just as well when grown tightly together, so these would work well for the varieties that do not.”

“I think it would be perfect for the ibbrac Sergeant Stackhouse’s team just brought back from Iegra the other day,” Teyla observed. “That is the plant the Athosians use most frequently on tava beans or in hasat stew.”

“I will see that a few spires are reserved for the ibbrac, then.”

John glanced over to see Carter drawing a surprisingly accurate model of the growing unit on her digital tablet. He was impressed, since he couldn’t draw stick figures on his best day.

A second holographic image joined the first. This time, there were aeroponic units that were single poles probably 12” in diameter and at least a dozen feet tall. They had openings that looked something like half of a round-bottomed coffee cup protruding from the sides at equal distances all the way around.

“These are the units I will dedicate to other varieties of herbs and greens that grow better with their own space.”

John knew his wasn’t the only jaw that dropped. Nearly all of growing units were empty, but it looked like there was an enormous building full of the white poles. He could easily imagine what it would look like when it was full of growing plants.

He made a note on his digital tablet to coordinate training with some of the botanists and Atlantis. His people could help with this kind of project, and it would be great for morale to have them involved with producing their own food. No matter the military division, people did better when they felt like they were contributing something other people would appreciate.

Crap, he’d also need more people who knew how to fix that kind of thing. It was probably too much to hope that he’d be able to get people from the Army Corps of Engineers. He’d tried before because of how frustrating it was to try to get some of the scientists to stop trying to redesign the plumbing system and just fix the one they had. Rodney had certainly ranted about it often enough.

“I have taken possession of all discarded seeds, whether Earth fruits and vegetables or plants native to Pegasus. Those are being properly dried so they can be sprouted in one of the hydroponic or aeroponic bays, but they will take longer to grow than the greens already started, which you saw in the first image. All these bays will help long-term, but I believe you need a solution for within the next few weeks.”

“You’re right, but this is amazing, Atlantis!” Poisson exclaimed. It was the most enthusiastic John had seen from the typically stoic man. It seemed he’d gotten over his nervousness at speaking to the city’s human form. “These buildings and production bays will go a long way toward helping us feed our people.”

Atlantis smiled at his praise.

“We need meat.”

“Ronon is right,” John agreed, glad Ronon had brought it up. “We all know it’s probably healthy to live off a vegetarian diet, but you’re not going to find a lot of people around here who are happy doing it.”

“We already know there are some safe fish in the ocean,” Poisson offered.

“I’ve caught some, and it isn’t too bad,” Ronon said. “There’s a dark red one that Tony said tastes like somebody caught something called a salmon from Earth, then rubbed it with a chicken. Zy likes it.”

Less-than-appealing description aside, John knew if Ronon had fed it to Tony, then the marine biologists must have signed off on it as being edible for Earth humans.

“Then we need to know what they are and how to catch them. We also need to know how to do so without throwing off the entire ecosystem.” Carter jotted something on her own tablet. “I’ll get with the marine biologists about that and about finding out what other sea creatures might be edible.”

Poisson was nodding. “They were very good about sending me the information about the fish they’re calling the Red Chicmon so I could plan for the calories and protein in a main or side dish if we ever decided to do more fishing.”

That was a surprise to John. He’d assumed the biologists would be oblivious to Poisson, but it made sense. Everybody needed to eat, and they knew it was better to make a friend than an enemy of the person in charge of all the food on the city. A lot of people might not like getting KP duty, but they respected the hell out of the man who ran the mess halls.

“What about red meat?” Chief Poisson continued. “A lot of our people are steak-and-potatoes folks, so I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that they’re going to need some kind of beef or other grazing animal to be happy.”

Ronon and Teyla exchanged a look. Ronon raised one eyebrow. Teyla mirrored him. Ronon gave a one-shouldered shrug. Teyla huffed and pursed her lips, then rolled her eyes at him.

“I believe Ronon and I are thinking the same thing when it comes to providing meat for such a large number of people: Verubriga.”3

John frowned, trying to remember where he’d heard the word before.

“Isn’t that a planet?” Carter said slowly. “I’m pretty sure I read something about the team who went nearly being killed and fed to a predator animal there.”

“ _That’s_ where I know it from! That was one of the planets Captain Resha and his team went to during our first year.”

“You are correct, John; however, I believe the _aknata,4_ what you call the not-buffalo, is the only animal that will provide the quantity of meat the city requires,” Teyla explained. “While the Lorains5 (the humans of Verubriga) can and do trade on other worlds, it is much more expensive. The Athosians always travel to Verubriga, where our people arrange for the transport of the processed meat back to New Athos. At times, we have helped to process the entire animal, which again lowers the cost of the final product. The labor is considered part of the trade.”

John looked to Carter and shrugged one shoulder. “We’ve traded for not-buffalo on other planets, and it is tasty. I think we got a few hundred pounds.” He turned back to Teyla, resigned to hearing what he assumed would be bad news. “I’m guessing this is going to be one of those things where we royally offended the Pegasus folks. Is it worth it to approach them again?”

“Yes,” Ronon interjected before anyone else could say anything. “What we’ve gotten, even from the Athosians, wasn’t even close to what a whole aknata would be. They’re—what do you think, Teyla?—Probably about twice your height or a little less? They weigh between six and eight _iglams_.”6

John’s eyebrows shot into his hairline.

“Wait, they’re eleven feet tall?” Poisson asked, stunned. “I don’t know what an _iglam_ is, but they must weigh a few thousand pounds. That’s not the size of an Earth buffalo—or more correctly, bison, as buffalo are an Asian or African species—that’s a prehistoric ancestor to the bison!”

“Somebody convert that weight for me, please,” Carter requested.

“I believe Ronon is overestimating the height, especially since the aknata have a massive bony structure above their shoulders to protect their spinal cords from the talons and teeth of the _tanricu_ ,”7 Teyla said.

“That is correct,” Atlantis agreed. “However, their height at the shoulder base before that bone structure ranges from nine to ten feet. They weigh between 4,000 and 5,800 pounds, according to my records. Once processed, as much as 2,790 pounds will be food fit for human consumption, even after taking into consideration how fussy Earth humans are.” She explained to Teyla and Ronon, “There are many organs they cannot or will not eat, for a variety of reasons.”

Even as he gave a low whistle, John thought he heard Ronon mutter, “Then they must not be hungry enough.” He’d have to explain to Ronon how it wasn’t quite as simple as Earthers just being fussy, but that could wait for another time.

Carter and Poisson were completely speechless.

“That’s—that’s worth it,” Chief Poisson finally managed. “Even if we estimated a full pound of meat per person per day, we could feed the entire city for days off a single aknata.”

Ronon snickered, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “What? I just don’t wanna think about what some of the desk people would look like if they ate that much meat every day.”

John manfully contained his own amusement.

“So what do we need to know about trading with the Lorains?” Carter asked Teyla. “Your people obviously don’t have a problem.”

Teyla sighed. “They are a strictly matriarchal society, Colonel Carter. The team that was sent to Verubriga were all men. The priestesses would have taken that as an insult.”

At Carter’s confused expression, Ronon clarified, “They thought you were insulting them by sending inferiors to negotiate with them.”

“Yes, precisely,” Teyla said. “Then not only were they men, but they did not try to speak to the Lorain women. Instead, they insisted on trying to trade with the high priestess’ concubines, thinking they were the rulers rather than she.”

“I’m only surprised they didn’t kill the idiots,” Ronon said with a disgusted snort.

“Do they negotiate with Halling now that you’re gone?” Carter asked curiously.

“While they will acknowledge Halling as an authority for the Athosians,” Teyla said, choosing her words carefully, “they very much prefer to negotiate with one of the female leaders. If they do agree to negotiate with a male, Halling or someone else, then they require that one of our female leaders accompany the man to finalize agreements.”

“That’s how it was for former Sateda too, when we had a man in charge of trading. They were always happy to deal with our women or kysra, though.”

“Huh. Usually, it’s our women who are treated as second-class in the Milky Way.”

John wondered if Carter was remembering the time she was nearly sold into slavery. Because he’d wanted to know more about Carter, that was one of the few reports he’d read from the SGC’s first year. It was the first time a woman had been captured or “bought” off-world, but not every case had ended so well.

“It is unfortunate that humans cannot value one another in spite or even because of their differences,” Atlantis said with an annoyed frown. “A body is only a vessel for the being within.”

“True, but humans aren’t very good at seeing beyond appearances,” Carter agreed with an apologetic smile. Turning to John, she asked, “What do you think about your team going with team four?”

“Major Teldy’s team – all women and all smart, even if they’re not usually on first-contact. That’s a great idea.”

Teyla interrupted. “I do not believe that to be the wisest course. If I am with the negotiating team, the Lorains could decide I have deserted the Athosians. They might decline to trade with us, or they might decide the Athosians are no longer worthy trade partners.”

“Not good, either way. It might be better to send team five,” John suggested slowly. “Major Jordan’s team has been doing the Apologies circuit with us, and Dr. McNamara is great at first-contact. She seems to really have a knack for it. There are still three guys going along, but I think it will work.” The corner of John’s lips lifted in reluctant amusement. “If nothing else, they can pretend they’re McNamara’s concubines or dumb muscle. I know women have been asked to do worse on missions.”

Carter was already nodding. “Will you brief both teams and have them ready to go within the next two days?”

“Will do, Colonel.” John paused and met Teyla’s eyes, adding, “I’d like you to come with me, Teyla. You’re our the expert, and you have a unique perspective on these people especially.”

“Of course, Colonel.” Teyla smiled, her eyes lighting with pleasure at his acknowledgement of her skills.

John had taken to heart his and Ronon’s discussion about the status of negotiators and experts in Pegasus, and he’d made an effort to verbally acknowledge Teyla’s—and Ronon’s—contributions and expertise. They didn’t need a pat on the back every time they helped in those roles, but they deserved to be acknowledged as the invaluable assets they were.

“Assuming we are able to establish trade between new Sateda and Verubriga, are there any Earthers who would be of use as laborers during the processing of the beast?”

“I could help. I went to Verubriga a couple times when I was younger,” Ronon agreed, then grinned, “It was fun getting petted by all the women; just don’t tell Tony.” More serious, he added, “I grew up on a farm. We raised and butchered our own food animals. I could help or teach people how to butcher most of the food animals people raise, plus a lot they don’t. I had to catch and cook my own food when I was a Runner.”

John figured Ronon had eaten a lot of things that the, by comparison, pampered people of new Sateda would refuse.

Chief Poisson tilted his head in thought. “I don’t know about field dressing, but I know I have people who are trained to work with entire sides of beef, packaging it into usable cuts. I’m sure they’d be willing to help however they could, especially if they understood their labor would count as part of the trade. I certainly am.”

John met Carter’s eyes and gave her a very subtle shake of his head. Poisson was an irreplaceable asset they needed coordinating things at home, especially when they were on the edge food shortage crisis. If trade went well and they built up the emergency supplies John and Carter both wanted, Poisson could be sent another time if he still wanted to go.

“I’ll see if we have any hunters,” John offered, writing down a list of others he thought might be helpful. “People with that sort of background would have more experience with field dressing. Even if they aren’t prepared to field dress a not—uh, what’s it called again?”

“Aknata,” Teyla provided, an amused smile playing about her lips.

“Right. Even if they’re not up to dealing with an aknata, maybe we can send them to New Athos to help bring in whatever wildlife the Athosians know is safe to eat. Surely there are not-turkeys and not-deer somewhere in Pegasus.”

Carter grinned at him before turning to Teyla.

“Speaking of the Athosians…Teyla, please let us know if they could use help when it comes time for harvest. I’m sure we have people who have experience with harvesting crops of one kind or another. Maybe we could negotiate a trade: harvesting labor to the Athosians in exchange for having some of them go along to field dress aknata. Having experienced hands would mean a shorter amount of time away from the city, too, for both groups.”

“That is an excellent idea, though I will have to discuss it with Halling, as I am no longer Leader.” She paused and warily added, “The Athosians know they will be coming to Atlantis, though only the leaders and those who were here for the wedding know of Kysra Tony’s existence. I believe that once the return of a kysra and the existence of Atlantis—” she offered Atlantis herself a solemn dip of her head, which was returned with equal respect. “—is known throughout the people, they will be willing to offer their resources for the use of all. More than just providing laborers, there are many skills we can teach to those who are willing to learn. The more we are able to produce for trade, the better off we all will be.”

“This discussion pleases me,” Atlantis stated with a satisfied smile.

John noticed her eyes were doing the weird starlight flashes again, which he assumed was a good thing. He’d have to remember to mention it to Carter, though she had probably picked up on it too.

“Whether the Athosians choose to keep their own name or merge to become Satedans, I believe that within a few thousand years, there will be just one people on Sateda. It is better to combine strengths. The Athosians, Satedans, and those from Earth all have much to offer one another.”

John wondered if anyone else heard the warning along with Atlantis’ praise. He thought it would be safe to assume that those who decided they couldn’t get along with everyone would find themselves booted out of the city entirely.

*~*~*~*

_Keplerday, Einstein 21, First Year of the Returned  
(April 11, 2008)_

“Hello, Rodney, Dr. Zelenka.”

Rodney jumped at the voice, but relaxed once he saw who it was. Zelenka cursed in Czech and turned to yell at whomever had interrupted the work they were doing on the Gate Bridge. Then he paled, choked, and cursed again.

Rodney didn’t laugh, but he did allow himself to be a little smug. He’d babbled when Atlantis randomly appeared, but he’d never actually cursed at her. Well, he’d never cursed out loud.

“Most humble apologies—ah—Atlantis. Forgive my rudeness; I was most surprised.”

Atlantis adopted the smile Rodney was beginning to associate with times she felt deeply amused by something, but was either too polite or too kind to say it.

“Hey, Atlantis. I like your dress.” Rodney motioned to the sky-blue, strapless dress that hugged her body from just under her arms to almost mid-thigh, then flared out into a panels of almost see-through material. “It’s almost like something we’d see on Earth.”

Of course, the women on Earth didn’t wear it with a wide sash of a million strings of silver chains and jewels going from one shoulder to the opposite hip, but it was the most normal thing he’d seen her dressed in so far. Except her feet were bare. Come to think of it, he’d never seen Atlantis with any kind of shoes.

“Thank you, Rodney. Think nothing of it, Dr. Zelenka. I wished to tell you the coding you completed to integrate my hydroponic and aeroponic bays is very well done.”

“Oh, my. Well. Thank you!” Zelenka said flustered. He offered a weird little half-bow, sort of like he did with Miko when the two were doing one of their complement competitions after they’d done something they thought was smarter than usual.

Rodney’s smirk faded. He hadn’t ever heard her compliment anyone else.

Atlantis stepped closer and placed her hand on Rodney’s upper arm.

When he looked up at her, she said, “I have need of you. There is something I wish you to see, if you are willing.”

Rodney’s emotions swung between being relieved that she was seeking him out and smug for the same reason. He only wished more people than just Zelenka had been around to see Atlantis say she wanted his company. Surely she didn’t do that with anyone else… except Tony. Maybe Ronon.

“Sure, I’ll look at whatever it is you want me to see. I’m sure Zelenka can finish up here.”

“Yes, yes, of course. Go.” Zelenka made a shooing motion, but abruptly stopped as if he’d just realized whom he was shooing away. “I mean, I will complete this coding work, then begin the next section. It is no trouble, no trouble at all.”

“Do I need to bring anything?”

“No, I merely wish to show you something.”

“Okay.” Rodney jerked his chin at Zelenka. “See you later.”

Still watching Atlantis warily, Zelenka mumbled something, and then Rodney and Atlantis were gone.

Surrounded as he was by silence and darkness, Rodney had a moment of panic where he wondered if something had gone wrong with his reintegration. But, no, he could still feel Atlantis’ hand on his arm. Then he realized all the tiny strings of what he’d thought were jewels on Atlantis’ sash thing were glowing softly.

“Step forward four times,” Atlantis instructed.

Swallowing tightly, Rodney did so, grateful she remained beside him, her hand guiding him.

On the fourth step, it felt as though he passed through a cool steam, much like the one that came from the humidifier he’d had back on Earth, though this steam smelled like cold, wet rocks rather than Vicks VapoRub.

Rodney coughed and waved one hand in front of his face.

“Do you like it?” Atlantis asked.

Rodney blinked rapidly and looked around.

His jaw dropped. Rodney wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but he certainly hadn’t expected to suddenly be in an immense cavern that was probably the size of the Gateroom proper, which looked a lot like the time Sharon – a geologist he had briefly dated– had talked him into going to Horne Lake Cave on Vancouver Island.

Unlike Horne Lake, impressive as it had been, Atlantis’ cavern was filled with hundreds of thousands of glowing crystals. Some were still tiny, about the size of the ones Atlantis was wearing—at least, Rodney assumed those were crystals—but others were the size of his forearm, and a few were even larger. They grew scattered among what Rodney would term “normal” stalactite and stalagmites, and they were all different shapes and colors, from the brightest, boldest reds, purples, blues, and greens, to the softest pinks, lilacs, silvery-blues, and sherbet-greens. They all appeared wet, as though they were frequently sprayed like the produce in a grocery store.

“Where are we?” Rodney wasn’t sure why he was whispering, but it seemed appropriate, given the awe he felt.

“I have decided to call this my darkroom,” Atlantis told him, her voice nearly as quiet. “The glowing crystals require complete darkness as they grow, which is part of the reason you have been so unsuccessful in attempting to grow energy crystals in your laboratories.”

Rodney stared at her, and he just knew he was at least as bug-eyed as any cartoon character he’d seen—and he’d seen several since he’d become friends with Tony.

“As for where we are, technically, we are beneath the central city and the central tower.”

“How is that possible? Our sensors haven’t ever picked up anything like _this_.”

Atlantis smiled faintly. “No, your sensors would not be capable of detecting my darkroom. This place exists within a certain type of singularity.”

Thankfully, only Atlantis was around to hear the high-pitched noise Rodney made. It almost sounded like some of the crystals around him echoed it back, but that couldn’t be right.

“How—how is that possible?”

She gave him her soft, amused smile and touched her hand to the small of his back.

“Remain between the green crystals. That is the safe path through the darkroom.”

“But—”

“Come, Rodney. There is more I wish to show you.”

He made a frustrated sound but allowed her to guide him along the empty space between the dark green crystals. To his surprise—and why did anything she did surprise him anymore?—rather than rough, uneven ground like in a normal cave, the path was smooth and even, like cut but unpolished marble. It was just enough texture to give his shoes traction.

At least he wouldn’t trip. He hoped.

They walked for what seemed like a lot longer than it should have taken to reach the far wall, but they got there eventually. Rodney didn’t even realize he was grumbling about not having sensors and wanting to understand how the inside of a singularity worked until Atlantis chuckled.

“I will bring you back, never fear, dear one.”

Ha! Rodney straightened his spine. He’d bet no one else—except Tony—had had Atlantis call them dear one. He never should have let his stupid insecurity get to him before. Atlantis wasn’t the kind to give up on someone once she liked them.

They finally stopped, and Atlantis made an elegant gesture toward the closest wall, for lack of a better term.

“Here, these are what I wished for you to see.”

Rodney could see straight away that the crystals growing in that area were different from the others. They weren’t just one color, for one thing. They were mostly dark red, but there were golds and oranges forming within the red areas. They were growing in straight rows too, which was something none of the other crystals did. It was almost as if they’d been planted that way instead of forming naturally. There was something else that was weird about them, too, though Rodney couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

“I know there’s something I should know about these, but you kind of broke my brain. I probably couldn’t even make an atomic bomb right now much less do anything complicated.”

Atlantis laughed, her eyes almost glowing with particularly bright flashes of light. “These are special crystals. They must be cultivated rather than simply allowed to grow because they will contain something far more powerful than the simple energy these other crystals must be able to process, once they are harvested.”

“Contain more power,” Rodney muttered to himself. There was something about her phrasing. “Contain more—” Rodney gasped, nearly choking. “Contained power, _contained singularities._ These are ZedPMs!”

Atlantis grinned at him, her teeth a flash of white in the darkness.

“Yes, I am cultivating the crystalline shells of the ZedPMs,” she said smugly.

 Rodney whimpered and tried to count. There had to be at least two dozen of the multi-hued crystals growing from the wall.

“How many are there? There have to be more than a dozen, more than two dozen!”

“Yes,” Atlantis acknowledged. “I had four fail thus far, so there are thirty-one. Keep in mind that these are merely the shells that will house the singularity. Not all of these will survive to become ZedPMs either. Each ZedPM crystal must be absolutely perfect, or it could destroy this solar system when I fill it. Perhaps half of these will be that perfect. Then I must reach between realities to harvest the energy to fill each one.”

“Oh, is that all,” Rodney whimpered, remembering the disaster with his sister and the alternate Rod McKay.

“It is complicated, even for me, but I believe it is worth it.”

“I think I need to sit down. Can I sit down?” Rodney sank to the ground right where he stood and crossed his legs tailor-style. He propped his elbows on his knees and put his shaking hands over his mouth. He stared wide-eyed at the wall of ZedPM crystals until his eyes teared from lack of blinking.

Atlantis knelt gracefully beside him. She tilted her head and rested her hand on his shoulder, and Rodney had a moment of insanity in which he wondered if her dress would get damp from the ground. Not that it mattered. She could just reform it whenever she wanted.

“You know, if you would agree to allow me to alter you, it is possible that I would be able to show you, let you experience what it feels like to harness the power of a singularity within your mental hands.”

Rodney’s head snapped up, and he stared at her open-mouthed.

“Oh, that’s just dirty pool, Atlantis,” he accused. “That’s worse than telling me you could fix my allergy to lemon!”

She gave a throaty chuckle. “I had not intended to offer you such inducement when I brought you here, but it appears I am not entirely immune to temptation myself.” Her smile softened again. “Come, stand and I shall take you to the crystals that are ready to harvest. I know there are many places throughout my structure that require replacements, so I will show you how to harvest and cut these into the pieces you will need.”

“Just as long as you don’t tell anyone else there are replacements we didn’t scavenge from the rest of the city. The idiots would probably just find more ways to break the ones we have already.”

“I shall permit you to decide if anyone else knows of this place, then.”

“Not even Tony knows?”

“No, not even Tony.”

Rodney grunted his acceptance and allowed her to pull him to his feet. The time sitting on the cold, damp floor had made him stiffer than he’d thought. Yet another thing Atlantis could correct if—and when—he gave in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **1** OTS: Officer Training School  
>  **2** Jabanabara: (jahb-ah-nah-BAR-ah) root vegetable that’s like a cross between a white potato and a sweet potato. Brown on the outside (skin), light lavender inside [Megarus M8R-020]  
>  **3** Verubriga: (ver-oo-BREE-ga) A planet in the Pegasus galexy; M2R-391  
>  **4** Aknata: (ahk-NAH-ta) look like prehistoric bison; 10-12 feet tall at the shoulder; 4,000-6,000 pounds; massive, curved horns; bony ridge from skull to mid-spine to protect the spinal cord from tanricu [Verubriga M2R-391]  
>  **5** Lorains: (low-RAINS) humans of Verubriga M2R-391  
>  **6** Iglams: (EE-glams) a measure of weight [Sateda]  
>  **7** Tanricu: (tan-REE-coo) mini-wyvern, bodies are approximately 12"-16” long at birth, but they grow to be 40”-50" tall (measured at the shoulder) and at least that long, not including the tail [Verubriga M2R-391]


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Additional warning for reference to suicide in this chapter.**  
>  Images for OC casting can be found in _The Kysra Images & Relevant Info_

**Chapter 2**

_Keplerday, Einstein 21, First Year of the Returned  
(April 11, 2008)_

Sam knew she probably should wait in her office, but she was too eager to hear about what had happened on Verubriga. That was the reason she’d been loitering in the control room for the last twenty minutes, making everyone else nervous. She consoled herself with the fact that Sheppard didn’t have any more restraint than she did.

Instead of pacing, he had one hip propped against the dialing station. The last time she’d walked past them, he’d been trying to convince Chuck that American football was superior to hockey. From the way Chuck looked like he was one unrestrained impulse away from trying to kill Sheppard with the Colonel’s own gun, Sam assumed the topic of conversation hadn’t changed.

The Gate started to light up. Sheppard’s focus snapped to it, and Sam didn’t think she was imagining Chuck’s look of relief.

“IDC?” she asked, striding toward Chuck’s station just as the wormhole stabilized.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s team four.”

“Good. Let them in, Chuck.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Everyone from both teams came through the Gate, looking a little worse for the wear.

Sam and Sheppard headed down the steps toward them, concerned but not alarmed, since it didn’t look like anyone had any obvious injuries.

They all were covered in dirt, leaves, and twigs. Dr. Alison Porter and Airman First Class Daniel Seung had black eyes, while Sergeant Dusty Mehra had a split lip. Mehra was grinning, but Sam didn’t think that meant much, considering the wild glint in her eyes that went with her grin. Seung was actually more muddy than dirty, but it looked as though things had gone as well or better than anticipated.

“Well,” Sheppard drawled, “You guys look like you had an adventure.”

“It was… interesting, sir” Major Teldy said with a pleased look at her fellow team leader.

“They didn’t kick us out, despite some of us being men,” Major Devin Jordan said, shooting Teldy a relieved smile in return.

“How about the aknata? Did you see any of those?”

“Oh, yes,” Teldy replied. “They’re all that Teyla described and more. They’re….”

“They’re hellbeasts, ma’am,” Seung offered with a smirk when Teldy trailed off, holding up one hand with his pinkie and index finger raised like horns. He flicked his wrist like he was back at his favorite rock concert in L.A.

Mehra snorted and made the sign back at him. “Which would be why you screamed when you saw it.”

Seung huffed. “It was a very manly scream, ma’am.”

Sam was amazed again that the very young, very enthusiastic Airman Seung fit as well as he did on Jordan’s team when the rest of them appeared so calm. Maybe that was why: Seung’s energy was tempered by the experience and calm of the other three.

“Right,” Sheppard said, stretching out the word, “How about you all get cleaned up and get through medical. Then, Major Teldy and Major Jordan, you two meet us in the small conference room behind the command center to debrief.”

There was a chorus of “yes, sir,” and Sam was left to wait with Sheppard again.

She had just enough time to answer a few urgent emails before it was time to grab a water and the digital tablet she planned to use to take notes.

“Alright, Major Teldy, would you start us off with your first impressions?”

“Yes, ma’am. Just like Teyla described, the Gate opens into a clearing at the edge of a forest. There are a variety of trees and plants, but the biggest ones are huge – the size of the sequoia trees back on Earth. We waited in the clearing, and it wasn’t long before one of the priestesses showed up with a group of male and female guards and warriors. I’m still not certain what the difference is, but I’m sure there is one. The priestess took one look at our uniforms and our weapons, and she tried to send us back through the Gate.”

“Do you think she was the one Captain Resha offended?”

“There’s no way to know, but I’d venture to guess that whomever he offended warned everyone else. They wouldn’t have given us the time of day if you hadn’t sent mostly women this time, Colonel Carter.”

“With all due respect, ma’am, the last time I saw a woman that mad and who wanted to kick my ass before I’d done more than exist while in her presence, she was sitting across the room, and our attorneys were fighting for custody of the dog,” Jordan quipped.

Sheppard winced, so did Sam even though she hadn’t personally been through a divorce. She’d heard the stories.

“I see,” she said. “You obviously were able to get them to talk.”

“Yes, Colonel,” Teldy said. “I explained that the leadership for my people had changed, and I was there to apologize on behalf of our new leader—a woman this time. Just like Teyla thought, they were at least willing to speak to us instead of sending us back through the Gate with our backsides on fire. Priestess Briddyn was skeptical, but she was willing to let me attempt to apologize to the high priestess in person.

“I said everything just like Teyla and I worked out, and High Priestess Faerl listened, but she said we’d have to complete a task before she would consider trading with us.”

Sheppard leaned forward. “What was the task?”

His concern was legitimate. They’d already had some similar situations where the apology tasks had been the equivalent of “go sit in an active volcano.” Needless to say, those trade missions hadn’t worked out very well.

“There is a smaller woodland area, and the settlement is located in a clearing in the heart of it. There’s a stream that winds just along the north edge, but it connects to a river a few miles farther east. She told us we had to travel along the stream until we got to the river. Once there, we were supposed to catch this fish that only swims in the river and bring it back to her.”

“Really?” Sam was surprised. “Catch a fish, and that’s all?”

Wow, if only all of SG1’s apologies had been so easy back in the first days of the program! Daniel would’ve gotten to stay home with his artifacts a lot more, not that he would’ve wanted to.

“I know, it sounds weird, but there was a reason for it,” Teldy confirmed. “Faerl told us that there was a great monster that roamed the area between the stream and the river, and we would have to survive it in order to bring her the fish.”

Ah. Not quite so easy after all.

“Did she take your weapons?” Sheppard asked, frowning.

Major Jordan shook his head. “Not at all. In fact, she said we could take any weapon we liked. Faerl even said if we killed one of the monsters, she would declare us allies instantly, and we would have a big feast in celebration.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.”

“No, sir,” Jordan agreed. “She did tell us that if we failed or if we refused, then we should never come back. She would not declare us enemies, but she never gives third chances.”

“A little harsh, but I can understand, I guess,” Sam admitted. “You must have caught the fish. Did you kill one of the monsters?”

“No,” Teldy admitted. “We agreed to go get the fish, but we discussed it among ourselves and decided that it was unlikely High Priestess Faerl knew that we knew about the tanricu and the aknata. We thought that the aknata was probably the monster, but it was likely that we’d be faced with one of their tanricu along the way at some point, too.”

“I presume both of those things happened,” Sam said, seeing where the story was headed.

“The tanricu were first, while we were still in the wooded area,” Teldy replied with a sharp nod. “They are terrifying if you don’t know what they are.”

Major Jordan snorted. “I knew what to expect—or I thought I did—and I still think they’re terrifying. If I hadn’t known not to shoot, I definitely would have done my best to take down one or more of those suckers.”

“But you didn’t?” Sheppard asked.

“No! No, sir,” Jordan immediately denied. “Which turned out to be a very good thing later on. If I’d killed one of the tanricu….”

“That bad, huh?”

Teldy confirmed, “Very, sir. The tanricu are intelligent—more than animals but less than humans—and they are seen as sacred windsisters to the Lorians. To kill or even injure one on purpose is seen as a direct attack on the high priestess herself. They would have killed us, and I mean that quite literally.”

Sam asked, “So when did you see the aknata?”

“At the river, and they are every bit as huge as Ronon and Teyla said they are. Keep in mind that I’ve seen a real bison. I was stationed at Ellsworth in South Dakota, and there’s a state park near there. The park is part of the bison herd’s territory, and you can drive through it, though you have to acknowledge that you won’t hold the park responsible for any injuries.”

“Injuries?”

“Bison are huge, ma’am. Adults are anywhere from five to over six feet at the shoulder, and they can weigh over a ton,” Teldy explained. “If something scares them or makes them mad, especially during mating season when the bulls are in rut and the cows in heat, the entire herd can stampede. If that happens, there isn’t a civilian vehicle on Earth that could protect you from getting hurt.”

“Wow, I had no idea. I guess I’ve never thought about land animals that big,” Sam admitted.

“I hadn’t either until then. As massive as bison are, the aknata are probably twice their size. I know Teyla and Ronon didn’t think they were as tall as eleven or twelve feet, but I assume their people never had to go on the fishing trip we did. They probably only saw the monster—and I agree with that name—once it was already dead.”

“That doesn’t take into account their horns, either,” Major Jordan elaborated. “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a Texas Longhorn, but they’ve got nothing on the aknata, though the aknata’s horns curve upward a lot sooner than the Longhorn’s do.”

Sam was doing her best to keep her jaw from dropping open. She hadn’t seen a Longhorn – or any kind of cattle, really – in real life, but she’d seen photos.

“So how the heck did you all get the fish to take back to the priestess?” Sheppard demanded incredulously.

“It turns out that the aknata come to the river’s edge during the heat of the day. Getting wet probably helps them stay cool under all that fur or hair, I’m not sure which it is,” Jordan explained. “We did the only thing we could – we waited them out.”

“When all but a couple stragglers were headed back to the grassland, we went to the part of the river closest to the wooded area and made a fishing net out of some mosquito netting and some thick plant stems. It took a while—”

“And Seung slipped and fell in at one point.”

“That too,” Teldy agreed with an amused grin. “We did catch the stupid fish eventually. We actually caught several in case the tanricu got a little too interested in us on the way back.”

“From the way you guys looked when you came through the Gate, can I assume you needed to use the extras?”

“Most of the dirt and leaves happened when the tanricu dive-bombed us on the way to the river, actually. When the tanricu started to get too close on the way back, we threw a fish at them. That only worked while they chased that one – a little bit like a dog with a ball, except the ball got eaten in a single bite – and then they were back. We managed to hang onto the final fish until we got close enough that the locals took pity on us and escorted us back to the high priestess.”

“Well, you succeeded. What did the high priestess—what was her name?”

“Faerl, ma’am.”

“Right. What did she say?”

“She had the fish we’d brought back baked and insisted she and I share it.” Major Teldy shrugged. “It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever eaten off-world, even if it did still have the head attached while we shared the rest of it. Then she said she would be pleased to begin negotiations to open trade between our peoples at dawn in two days.”

Sam grinned. “That’s fantastic!”

“It is, though the high priestess made it a point to let us know that the men would be welcome to remain at home next time.”

“Colonels,” Jordan addressed both Sam and Sheppard. “Normally I would suggest that my entire team stay here, but with the way Faerl phrased it, I got the impression she’d be expecting Dr. McNamara back with AR-4, and she’d be offended if all five women didn’t show up unless they had a really good excuse.”

Teldy was nodding. “I agree, and by ‘pretty good excuse,’ I think she’d only really accept death or Wraith.”

Sheppard frowned, and Sam wasn’t exactly thrilled either.

“That would put your team out of rotation until the negotiations are finalized.”

“It’s possible, sir, though I think McNamara will be able to extricate herself down the road if the negotiations go on too long.”

“She is the best anthropologist we have for first contact and negotiation,” Teldy agreed. “You can tell me I’m wrong, but I got the impression this isn’t an opportunity we can afford to screw up.”

Sam exchanged a look with Sheppard. Teldy was more right than even she knew.

“Right. Here’s what we’ll do,” Sheppard said firmly. “Dr. McNamara will go with Team 4 until such a time as she feels she can withdraw from the process without endangering herself or the negotiations. If that doesn’t happen until the negotiations are final, then we’ll need her to stick it out through the whole thing.

“Major Jordan, I’d rather not farm out your team individually. I’d like the three of you to work with our other people who go off-planet. Let’s get other teams to the point where they can at least go along with one of the apologies teams without doing something that ends us in a worse place than where we started. If McNamara isn’t finished with these negotiations in a couple weeks, we’ll see if we can borrow an Athosian who has negotiation experience as a guide so you can get back on tour.”

“Yes, sir,” Jordan responded. He paused, then asked, “If I may make a suggestion?”

“Go ahead.”

“I’d like my team, and Seung specifically, to get some more physical training. He’s not a Marine, sir, and it shows.”

“We’re not Marines either, Major,” Sam objected, a little offended on Seung’s behalf.

“No, ma’am,” Jordan concurred, “but you and Colonel Sheppard have proven yourselves in the training room and in the field. Seung is so young and untried that he shines like a brand new penny. I’d say I’d like to give him to Teyla or Ronon for a couple weeks, but I know they don’t have a spare second. My next thought is Red Eagle.”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. If it was the man she was thinking about, he’d been busted back in rank twice for refusal to obey an order.

“Lance Corporal Austin Red Eagle?” Sheppard verified. “I’m a little concerned your new penny might pick up bad habits.”

“If I may speak freely and off the record?”

“Alright,” Sheppard agreed warily. “Go ahead.”

“I know what happened to Red Eagle officially, but there are two sides to every story. Major Rutherford knew him back on Earth, and he was shocked to find out Red Eagle had been busted back to a Lance Corporal. Rutherford wants him on his team, so he’s been having him train with them on Red Eagle’s days off.”

“Rutherford. Isn’t that Major Elliot Rutherford who runs Search and Rescue Team 1?” Sam clarified, since there were two Rutherfords that she knew of on the city.

“Yes, ma’am, it is.”

Sheppard shot Sam a concerned look. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had made an enemy in the ranks and ended up getting shipped to Atlantis with a black mark or two on his or her record.

“Rutherford is a good judge of character. He wouldn’t tolerate anyone who wasn’t worth his time and energy, and he certainly wouldn’t tell you he wanted anyone problematic on his team,” Sam said, thinking out loud. Purposely phrasing it so that it wasn’t an order, she asked, “Can you tell us, again, off the record, if you know what orders Red Eagle refused that got him reprimanded?”

Jordan’s dark eyes held hers for a long moment before conceding, “I do know what it was, ma’am. Red Eagle was scouted by the Marines and the Navy. He was interested in serving his country, but the Cherokee have religious reasons for having long hair. Cutting his hair would only be done for very specific reasons such as the death of a beloved relative. That went double for Red Eagle because his father is a medicine man.

“As I understand it, the Marines were willing to grant him a religious waiver to keep the hair so long as he kept it clean and tightly braided so it would be out of the way. Red Eagle joined under that proviso, and he had no complaints from anyone until Colorado.”

“What happened in Colorado?” Sheppard asked.

Sam could tell from the way his jaw was working that he dreaded the answer. Well, that was fair. She did too.

“Then-Sergeant Red Eagle got put under a commander who ordered him to cut it. Red Eagle explained about the religious thing and the waiver he’d been granted. The commander told him he didn’t care if he believed in the tooth fairy, he wasn’t going to have any fairy-faggot Marines in his unit and repeated his order. That commander went so far as to try to have the waiver repealed. Red Eagle still refused to cut his hair, and his bid wasn’t up, so he couldn’t just opt not to renew. That refusal saw him busted back to corporal.”

Sam felt sick and furious, but she had to ask, “And the second time?”

“Red Eagle was transferred to another unit. That commander was aware of the situation and was in the good ole’ boys’ club with the first. He issued Red Eagle the same order, and Red Eagle refused. Instead of reporting him, he put the entire unit on correction detail and made it was clear it would end when Red Eagle obeyed the order he’d been given.”

Major Jordan closed his eyes and rubbed his mouth with one hand. When he opened his eyes, they seemed an even deeper shade of brown, as filled with anger as they were.

“After almost a month of working them until they dropped every day, the commander ordered the rest of the unity to throw Red Eagle a blanket party. Red Eagle was beaten to the point they nearly killed him, at which point they shaved his head for him.

“When he regained consciousness after the surgery that stopped the internal bleeding, set his ribs, and wired his jaw shut—which had been broken in two places—Red Eagle refused to name those who’d assaulted him. He refused to speak of the incident at all, even when ordered to by his commander’s CO.”

That took guts, Sam had to admit. It would have been a lot easier to throw his unit under the bus for taking an illegal order, but Sam was smart enough to know that there were men and women in uniform who abused their authority and got away with it all the time. The people who had beaten Austin Red Eagle probably were afraid that if they refused, they would be next to be given the so-called blanket party.

“So they demoted him again and shipped him out here,” Sam concluded.

A glance at Sheppard concerned her. He didn’t have many tells, per se, but his right hand was clenched in a fist, and the muscle in his jaw was working like he was grinding his teeth. Sam knew that meant he’d moved beyond furious to enraged, and he didn’t know if he could trust himself to keep his normal, calm façade.

“Does Landry know?” Sheppard demanded through gritted teeth.

Jordan eyed him warily. “I am not in the General’s confidence, sir.”

Sheppard’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t bullshit me, Jordan! Does. Landry. Know?”

“Sir, I believe he does, but I have no proof.”

“Right.” Sheppard got to his feet so fast his chair tipped over backward. “Good job on Verubriga, Teldy, Jordan. I’m going to go look into a couple of things, then I’ll deal with Red Eagle.”

The door slid back in barely enough time to let Sheppard storm through. Sam assumed he was on his way to talk to Red Eagle until she realized he wouldn’t do that until he could appear calm. He was more likely to demand someone spar with him so he could work out his fury first. Sheppard was a little like Jack that way, and Sam didn’t mind being left to close the meeting.

“We _will_ do right by Red Eagle, but that doesn’t solve your problem with getting your team more training time, Major. Sergeant Stackhouse is excellent at hand-to-hand, and Comandante Santiago—the new commander of Search and Rescue team two—is a vicious knife fighter. She learned how to fight on the streets of Spain, so be aware she’ll teach them how to fight dirty, not spar.”

Jordan was nodding. “That sounds perfect. She’s a woman, and both the guys on my team have a problem underestimating women, despite having seen Teyla fight all morning and have her opponents begging for mercy while she hardly worked up a sweat. I’ll talk to Santiago.”

Sam made sure neither of the team leaders had other concerns she needed to know about, then dismissed them. They might have had a long day, but so had she, and she had the feeling hers wasn’t going to end any time soon. Rodney McKay wasn’t the only one who could design a program to do a little unauthorized digging.

Landry had a much different style than Jack or General Hammond had had, but Sam hadn’t thought he was corrupt. She was aware of her own reputation as being half a step away from Teflon when it came to being reprimanded, though, so her experience wasn’t always an accurate measure of the powers that be.

Well, Sam was going to find out what secrets the SGC was keeping about Red Eagle, and she wanted to know if there were others like him, too.

On the heels of that thought came the epiphany that she could very well design a program to find out what the heck was going on back on Earth that was keeping the _Daedalus_ in a holding pattern and them without their supplies. It wasn’t legal or ethical, at least not from the SGC’s point of view, but they weren’t the ones in danger of running out of food. Sam never would’ve dreamed of doing something like that before she’d become a full-bird Colonel, but she hadn’t had over a thousand lives depending on her then either. She wouldn’t be able to tell anyone what she was doing; if she did get caught, it had to land on her shoulders alone.

With her goal firmly in her mind, she swept up her notepad and stylus off the table and headed back to her office. She’d need privacy and silence to work.

*~*~*~*

_Tesladay, Einstein 24, First Year of the Returned  
(April 14, 2008)_

“I’m considering homicide.”

Logan looked up when Tony stomped into his office and propped zyr hip against the assistant’s table at the front of his desk.

“Depending on who it is, I’ll either arrest you or help you cover it up.”

Amused by the indifferent tone, Tony hummed and crossed zyr arms, tapping zyr index finger against zyr chin. “How will I know if I should avoid you or ask you for help?”

“Well,” Logan said slowly, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers as he pretended to consider the question seriously. “I’d say just throw the body into the water and let whatever Pegasus sharks are down there eat them so you don’t have to worry about it at all, but the biologists have gotten awfully interested in fishing lately. I saw some of the mess personnel out there with them, so I’d say there’s a good chance they’re planning to feed us a bunch of fish sometime soon, and nobody wants to slice into their not-salmon to see somebody’s dog tags.”

“Or pocket protector.”

“That too,” he agreed with mock seriousness. “I guess that means if you can tell that the person you plan to murder performs a useful function around here, then you should ask someone else for help. If they’re basically useless but related to someone on the IOA, then let me know, and I’ll break out the big bags of lye. There’s a great spot out on the western arm of the city.”

Tony snickered. “How about you just go on a short run with me instead?”

Logan checked his watch. “I think I could spare a little time before I have to come back to this downright riveting paperwork.”

“Excellent!” Tony clapped zyr hands together and wiggled zyr eyebrows, even though it made zyr look ridiculous.

Logan laughed, which was zyr objective. With everything he was responsible for in the city, it was easy for the man to be too serious for too long. Tony wasn’t about to let him burn himself out, and that’s what would happen eventually.

After a brief discussion, they decided to run out in the fresh air rather than on one of the common paths within the city’s buildings. Tony was glad to feel the sun on zyr face and the wind against zyr skin. From the way Logan was blinking and turning his face toward the sun, he was feeling the same way.

“I’m surprised Ronon isn’t with you,” Logan commented.

Tony snorted. “When he got back from planet M-whatever, he decided to go hit things in the gym for a while. I don’t know any specifics, but I assume that means it didn’t go well.”

“Really.”

Tony made a face at Logan’s skeptical tone.

“I might have forgotten to mention to him that I was going to run,” zy admitted after catching the way Logan kept looking at zyr. “I love him, but there are times I kind of want to kill him.”

Logan lips twitched, but he didn’t laugh, so that meant Tony wouldn’t have to push him into a building or the ocean. Yet.

“Okay, what’d he do?”

“Gah! That’s just the thing! Nothing!” Tony ranted. “He’s very concerned, solicitous, and accommodating, and it’s driving me nuts! I think it’s either hormones or the fact that we spend so much time together, but where his usual overprotectiveness is cute, it just makes me want to strangle him today.”

Logan hummed. “Well, it could be a little of both. My ex was pissed at me most of her pregnancy, and I was never sure what I’d done. Of course, if I’d been smarter or more self-aware, I’d have realized we weren’t going to make it long-term,” he admitted. “Take a left up here.”

Tony turned at the corner as instructed. “Just where are you taking me, Sgt. Major Wolfe?”

Logan huffed a laugh, “Nowhere dangerous… at least I don’t think so. There’s an interesting sculpture you should see not far from here. I’ve been there a few times, and I haven’t turned into a human bomb, started hallucinating, or tried to ascend.”

Someone unfamiliar with the Alterans might think Logan was joking, but Tony had read the reports and knew better.

“Atlantis, do you know the sculpture he’s talking about?”

Her reply was swift.

//Yes, Kysra. It and the path he is taking you on to reach it are safe. I would have alerted you if it were not.//

“Thank you,” zy called out, then told Logan, “She says the sculpture and the way to it are safe.”

“Well, that’s good to know. I keep thinking I’ll remember to bring a camera with me one of these times, but I never do.”

“I’ll make sure to drag you out here again. I’m always interested in art, even if I don’t get the modern stuff a lot of the time.”

Tony tried to shrug one shoulder, then had to get zyr body back in sync to keep running. It took more effort than it should have. Then again, zyr brain had felt like it wasn’t connecting quite right with zyr body lately.

They were quiet for a while, except for the sounds of their feet on the ground and their breathing. It was calming, almost like a metronome, and it made Tony especially glad zy had asked Logan to run with zyr. There was something to be said for getting out of zyr head and doing something strictly physical for a while.

“The pregnancy didn’t have anything to do with why Molly and I split up, by the way,” Logan said after another mile. “We were doomed long before that. I think having Aaron was our last attempt to do something right and get ourselves on track where we thought we should be.”

Tony had wondered why Logan had tried to have a kid with his then-wife if they were already unhappy, as he’d confessed one other time.

“Huh. I was about to say something about having a kid to save a marriage being a bad idea, but my plan to have a kid to escape a job would’ve been much worse if I’d met anyone other than Ronon.”

Tony took Logan’s answering grunt as agreement. Zy was surprised when he added, “I know you said Atlantis doesn’t know where the other Four are, but I think they had to have helped engineer your meeting Ronon.”

When Tony was silent, Logan gave a self-depreciating laugh. “Call me a fool or a romantic, but I believe you two were meant to meet and to be together.”

Tony grinned, amazed to hear that kind of thing from such a stoic guy.

“Ronon thinks the same thing. I don’t know what I think. I guess I’m just glad I’m here with him, even the days when I want to strangle him,” Tony admitted. “Can we stop and stretch a little?”

“Sure.”

They slowed to a jog, then stopped next to one of the many empty buildings in the central city.

“You okay?” Logan asked when he noticed Tony wincing.

“I’ll be fine. All my joints hurt right now, that’s all.”

Logan raised the hem of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his face, and Tony copied him.

“Yeah, I remember that. Not me, of course, but I remember Molly going through it. I spent a lot of time getting yelled at for that in the first trimester. Not as much as the last one, but a lot.”

Tony snorted. “Awesome. You’re telling me it gets even more fun?”

Logan did a really terrible job trying to look apologetic. “It’s better than having your hips break, right? That’s the alternative if there isn’t enough room for the baby.”

“Thanks for that nightmare material, jerk.” Tony made a face and continued zyr slow stretch, holding it for a little longer than normal, just like the book had recommended. “I know all the ligaments are trying to relax and make room. It just sucks because, one, it hurts, and two, my hips are literally changing shape. That means those tight jeans that used to make my ass look so damn good are never going to fit the same again.”

Logan started to laugh, but quickly cut himself off at Tony’s attempt to imitate a basilisk’s death glare.

“Sorry, I know it’s not funny, not really. I’m sure someone will make you some new booty-call jeans when you want them.”

Tony rolled zyr eyes. Zy would probably be laughing if zy weren’t the one going through it.

“Start running, laughing man. I think I see the sculpture you were talking about. It’s black metal, not stone like I thought it would be.”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

They picked up the pace again, but Tony noticed it wasn’t as fast. Zy wasn’t sure if zy should be pleased because it meant zyr joints weren’t jarred as much, which meant they didn’t hurt as much either, or if zy should be irritated because Logan thought zy needed to go slower—which zy did—and which was what really pissed zyr off in the first place.

When they arrived at the sculpture, Tony walked around it twice before deciding zy kinda liked it.

“It’s like a roller coaster twisted into an ‘8’,” zy mused.

Logan laughed. “I guess that’s one interpretation. Isn’t it some kind of infinity symbol? It always reminds me of an Escher painting because it doesn’t have a beginning or end; it just keeps going.”

Tony was sure there was a metaphor for life in there somewhere, but zy didn’t care to analyze it that closely.

Zy stepped on the edge of the sculpture and wondered if zy could climb it. Zy managed to grab one of the bars above zyr head before Logan was pulling zyr back by the arm and the neck of zyr t-shirt.

“Oh, hell no!” he barked out. “Don’t you dare, Tony Dex. You fall even an inch, and Ronon will tie me to that thing and use it to keelhaul me, and that’s if I’m _lucky_. Uh-uh. No way.”

Tony snarled and shoved him away, though zy did step back from the tempting piece of art.

“Believe it or not, I am an actual adult capable of making my own decisions.”

Logan nodded, hands on his hips. “Great,” he fired back. “Then you can decide to wait until you have the proper safety equipment and Ronon is with you before you think about climbing that thing again.”

Annoyed as zy was by yet another overprotective XY, Tony did agree that climbing a several thousand year old structure without having it examined for stability or anything else first probably wasn’t a good idea. Trying it without any safety equipment at all really was dumb, zy had to admit… though only to zyrself.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll do it another time. I see why you said you wished you’d brought your camera. Now I’m thinking the same thing.”

“Next time. Wanna head back, or do you want to bitch at me some more for not letting you crack your head open?”

Tony snorted. “Let’s head back. And I wasn’t thinking about bitching at you.”

“Not anymore, but you were,” Logan retorted after they started running.

“How could you tell?”

“Your face was doing that thing.”

“What thing? I have no idea what you’re talking about. My face doesn’t do any ‘thing.’”

“No, really. Your mouth does this thing where you press one side of your lips together and almost try to smile, but it just comes off like you’re saying you’d really like to kick somebody’s ass, and you’re not too picky about whose.”

Tony was about to object, but zy realized zy was doing exactly what Logan had described at that very moment.

“Damn, I can’t believe I have a tell.” Zy couldn’t believe zy hadn’t caught it sooner. What’s worse, the tell had to belong to Tony zyrself, not any of zyr undercover personas zy’d developed for dealing with difficult situations, even the one zy had used to get through the bad days at NCIS. It was a shock to realize zy hadn’t had to resort to using any of zyr personas since zy had met Ronon.

“I’m gonna have to send myself back to probie-school,” zy whined to cover zyr inner turmoil.

Logan snorted. “If that’s what you think, the rest of us are screwed. I know I have tells; I just try to limit them.”

Tony waved it off. “Yeah, right, Mr. Stone-faced Marine. But enough of my bitching and moaning. Tell me about Aaron. You got an email from zyr today, right?”

Logan made an odd noise, but Tony couldn’t tell if it meant he was distraught, furious, or frustrated. Probably some of all three, knowing what zy did about Aaron’s situation.

“If I had a hope in hell of getting my kyta stowed away on the _Daedalus_ this time, I’d have zyr on it in a New York minute. It’s a damned shame that whatever’s going on back on Earth is putting more scrutiny on who and what is brought on board. It’s making this harder than it should be.”

“Zy’s miserable, huh?”

“Yeah, but zy still won’t tell me anything actionable.” Logan cursed and looked like he wished he could punch someone. “Zy started emailing me from a new email address, from an IP address that isn’t zyr home or school.”

 “You think zyr emails are being read before zy sends them?”

“That’s my guess.”

Shit, that wasn’t good.

“Which either means the adults in zyr life are being nosy, or there really is something zy wants to or thinks zy needs to hide from you.”

“I know. Plus Aaron just lost zyr best friend. I’m so fucking terrified, Tony. It’s making a hole the size of the city in my stomach lining.”

Tony slowed so zy could focus on what Logan was saying. There was something off about it.

“Wait, what do you mean, zy lost zyr best friend?” zy asked with a frown. “Did they move away?”

“I wish,” Logan replied grimly, slowing his pace to match zyrs automatically. “Aaron’s best friend was this pretty little kysra whose parents chose to call zyr a girl.”

Tony’s heart sank. “Oh, shit.”

“Yep. ‘She’ turned sixteen, so zyr parents pulled zyr out of school and essentially sold zyr off to some guy who’s in business with zyr father. Aaron said the guy is my age or older, which makes me sick. I could no more see a sixteen-year-old as a sexual partner than I could one of the fish out there,” he growled, waving toward the water they could barely see between the city buildings. “Two sixteen-year-olds kissing is one thing, a forty-something guy kissing a sixteen-year-old? I wanna kill the bastard on principle.”

“Has the guy let Aaron’s friend stay in contact with zyr at all?”

“No,” Logan snapped and started running faster, though Tony thought it was probably fury, not conscious thought that was pushing him forward. “Aaron did see zyr parents in the grocery store one day, and they made sure to tell zyr that part of the reason they forced her to get ‘married’ was because they thought zy and Aaron were ‘too close’ whatever the hell that means. I’m sure it was something about how they were worried two delts would start breeding more delts if they didn’t do something to separate them.”

Tony’s own anger propelled zyr legs to move faster.

“I’ve heard that kind of thing before; it’s such bullshit! Delt kids are probably less likely to experiment with sex because they’re so afraid of what will happen to them. I doubt that kysra’s parents actually believe what they said. It’s more like it’s a convenient excuse to sell their kyta to the highest bidder. I’d like to kick their asses for laying that kind of thing on Aaron!”

“You and me both, Tony,” Logan snarled. “The worst part is Aaron said they found Shanna hanging in a closet a week ago. She had used one of zyr ‘life partner’s’ ties. You can imagine how devastated Aaron is now.”

“Sonofa—! We’ve got to get Aaron out of there, especially if zyr current guardian—I refuse to say mother because mothers don’t put that kind of crap on their kyta—is already telling zyr she’s worried about zyr ‘breeding.’ You know what comes next.”

“Oh, I know: forced sterilization. That’s why I’m killing myself trying to come up with a way to get zyr here.”

“We need to talk to Rodney and Zelenka. They’re sneaky SOBs, especially Zelenka. They’ll have ideas.”

“If you trust them, I’m willing to do anything, pay anything. Aaron can’t stay there anymore.”

“We’ll figure it out, Logan. We’re just going to have to be sneakier and meaner than those assholes are, but we’ll get Aaron here one way or another.”

Logan huffed. “Your lips to God’s ears.”

They slowed as they reached the entrance to the central tower. How was it that the trip back always felt shorter than the one out? Oh, wait. The double-time running.

Tony bent and put zyr hands on zyr knees, panting. Zy was going to be so sore later, but zy didn’t care. Runner’s high was a beautiful thing.

Logan stripped off his shirt entirely, using the few dry bits to wipe his face. Tony was tempted to follow his lead, but zy wasn’t comfortable showing off the Bump to all and sundry quite yet.

“One last thing about you and Ronon.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know Ronon as well as I know you, but I know he loves you. He wants to make everything all better. He can’t, so just tell him that. Let the poor guy off the hook so he’s not constantly wondering what he did wrong.”

“I’ve tried telling him it’s not his fault.” Tony groaned and shook zyr head. “It just makes him even more worried and overprotective.”

Logan made a face. “Yeah, he probably doesn’t believe you. Not that he thinks you’re lying,” he hastily corrected, “he’s just blaming himself because he feels like he should be able to fix whatever is bothering you.”

Logan paused, warily adding, “I have a suggestion if you want it.”

Tony made a ‘go ahead’ motion with one hand and wished zy had thought to bring water. Zyr mouth was as dry as the Sahara.

“It’s just a thought, and you can take it or leave it,” Logan said, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck. “Come right out and tell him, ‘hey honeybunch, sugarplum, snuggle monkey,’ or whatever it is you guys call each other.”

Tony sniggered, resolving to call Ronon snuggle monkey at the first opportunity.

“Tell him, ‘I’m irrationally angry at everything and everyone. It has nothing to do with anything you’ve said or done, so I need you to stop trying to fix it. My body and my hormones are FUBAR, and I need you to let me be angry for no reason at all.’” Logan shrugged. “Tell him what you need from him, Tony. I think it’ll make life easier for you both.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

Logan grinned at the challenge in Tony’s tone. “Then give me a call, and I’ll take Ronon to the gym or out to drink some illicit vodka. At least he’ll be out of your way for a while.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, Ronon’s a good guy. I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better, especially if we can bitch about how crazy pregnant people are.”

Tony grinned back at him, then stole his shirt and snapped it at him like a gym towel in a locker room. Logan just dodged it and mocked zyr.

“Too slow, Dex!”

“Fine! You invite Ronon to spar, since he’s the fast Dex at the moment, and I’ll call up Rodney. He’ll come over so we can eat cookies and bitch about muscle-bound idiots who beat each other up for fun.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Logan chuckled, stopping by the transporter. He grabbed his shirt back. “Now go on. Get your ass back before your husband loses his mind and thinks he’s done something to make you run away from home.”

Tony stepped inside the transporter and gave a sloppy salute with the wrong hand. “Sir, yes sir!”

Logan’s mock glare was the last thing zy saw before Atlantis whisked zyr home.

*~*~*~*

John was sort of irritated about the fact that he needed an office. He had a really nice one with a very comfy chair, thanks to Atlantis, but that didn’t mean he was happy that he had to do enough paperwork to actually need an office of his own.

Really, he was lucky that Evan Lorne liked doing paperwork, or at least didn’t hate it as much as John did, so he did the lion’s share. John knew Lorne took care of a lot of things he wasn’t officially supposed to be doing, but that was the great thing about having an awesome 2IC like Lorne. For instance, take the conversation they’d just had a couple of days ago.

 

 

> “Sir, I noticed your resubmission of that request for the zat guns and/or staff weapons. It was in the batch that’ll go back to Earth the next time we open the Gate.”
> 
> John raised his head from where he was glaring furiously at his stupid computer. It refused to remove a formatting setting – a setting John _knew_ hadn’t been there the last time he’d looked at the damned report.
> 
> “I resubmitted that, did I?” John didn’t recall submitting it the first time, though it was a good idea.
> 
> “Yes, sir,” Lorne agreed mildly, not looking up from where he was working on his own computer at the small conference table. “You sent a cost-analysis this time for what it costs each nation to train human assets, as well as the amounts already invested by the time the asset has reached each rank. Then you sent photos of SR-3 before they left and after we retrieved their bodies from M19-557, along with a cost analysis of their loss versus the cost of the weapons we need.”
> 
> John frowned.
> 
> Search and Rescue Team 3 had been the Russian elite _spetsnaz_ team who’d gone to what was supposed to be a farming planet. At some time during the month of Einstein, Atlantis typically traded with M19-557 for a round grain similar to couscous. Nobody had seen any of the regular traders from the planet around the various interplanetary markets, so SR-3 had offered to do recon.
> 
> Tragically, the entire civilization had turned into a community of Wraith worshipers in the time since they’d last traded with Atlantis. Worse, the community was being visited by their local ‘gods’ to receive a collection of human offerings when SR-3 arrived.
> 
> As best they could tell, all but one team member had been killed by the Wraith. The fourth member had managed to get to a gun, shoot his three comrades, then kill himself, even though his body had aged to what looked to be about a ninety Earth years at the time.
> 
> John had written the letters to each of their families himself. It was one job he never ask or allow Lorne do for him.
> 
> AR-1 and SR-2, with John at the helm, had taken a jumper and annihilated the community. John knew he was going to have to account for his decision to destroy the entire population, especially since they’d lost Karlo Bunić when they’d retrieved the bodies of SR-3. John still felt he’d done the right thing. Though he hated killing humans, he hated fanatics murdering his own people a whole lot more, and everyone on Atlantis was his no matter their Earth nation of origin.
> 
> Recon teams were seeing more and more of the Wraith worshiper communities, which made John worry that the Wraith were tired of chasing after their wild food source and were using their abilities to make sure their meals stayed in controlled groups for better reproduction and tracking. It was a trend they were watching carefully, and they’d already lost enough people to what people were starting to call Wraith farms to know it was impossible to turn them once they’d been ‘domesticated’ by the Wraith.
> 
> That knowledge was what had made John decide to destroy M19-557. Frankly, it was a much kinder death than they’d get at the hands of their Wraith ‘gods.’
> 
> “That seems a little cold of me, doesn’t it?”
> 
> “I don’t think politicians can see anything but numbers, but you thought the photos might help make your case if the numbers don’t,” Lorne explained. “There was a letter too. You wrote to Colonel Chekov.”
> 
> “I never would’ve asked you to do that, Lorne,” John said, dropping the pretense.
> 
> “I know that, sir. I mostly lifted things from what you already wrote to their families and then added some righteous indignation that we don’t have the equipment we need. Zats or staff weapons might not have saved the team, but we’ll never know how effective they are against the Wraith because the IOA won’t give us any.”
> 
> “ _Spetsnaz_ are like our SEAL teams, so at least Chekov will know if they didn’t make it, no one else could have either.”
> 
> “Chekov does have the advantage of actually having been deployed. If he can’t get them send us weapons, then there’s no hope.”
> 
> “You mean nobody on the IOA will ever understand we’re in a war, not just over here playing patty-cake and going for swims after work every day.”
> 
> “That too,” Lorne admitted.
> 
> John just hoped the IOA didn’t start pulling assets back to Earth. He didn’t think they would so long as Atlantis had the ZPM card to play. He hoped not, anyway.
> 
> “Do I need to sign that letter?”
> 
> Lorne’s lips quirked upward. “You did, sir.”
> 
> John huffed. “Just be sure to tell me if I sign anything else important.”
> 
> “I will, sir.”

 Unfortunately, what John was dealing with now wasn’t as easy as mundane paperwork. Now that John had let off some of his fury at the SGC over the Red Eagle situation, he was capable of tamping down the rest so he could have a civil conversation about it. He and Major Rutherford had been over it already and had come to a couple of possibilities, so they were both sitting at his conference table, waiting for Lance Corporal Red Eagle himself.

The door notification – which, much to his amusement, John noted now sounded exactly like the ones on the _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ , and meant Tony and Atlantis had been watching movies again – trilled, and John gave the door a mental nudge to open.

“Lance Cpl. Red Eagle, reporting, sir,” Red Eagle said, executing a perfect salute.

“At ease, Red Eagle,” John said.

Red Eagle moved into parade rest, his bright blue eyes staring straight ahead, his spine rigid enough to make John’s back ache just from looking at him.

John held back a sigh. “This isn’t a formal meeting, so relax and take a seat.”

Red Eagle hesitated, confusion flashing across his face, but he managed to sit in the open chair between John and Rutherford.

John leaned forward and put both elbows on the table, deliberately slouching in what Rodney called his Gumby impression.

“So here’s the deal, Red Eagle. Your name came up as a candidate to help with marksmanship, small weapons training, and some of the hand-to-hand fighting skills. I’m told you have some formal training yourself, but you’re more the expert of the style of no style. Is that how you’d describe yourself?”

Red Eagle’s gaze flicked to Rutherford, then back to John.

“Got my ass kicked a lot as a kid on the rez for not lookin’ Native enough. Got it kicked off the rez for being 'Indian.' Eventually learned how not to get it kicked as much.”

Seeing the young man in person for the first time instead of just a file photo on a computer, John couldn’t help but think Red Eagle probably got his ass kicked as much for being ‘pretty’ as he did for being the child of a Native American father and Caucasian mother. John could sympathize with that, having had his own ass handed to him more than once in junior high and high school for being ‘pretty’ himself.

“That’s a legitimate way to learn, even if it’s miserable at the time. Believe me, I know,” John offered. “Staff Sergeant Winston says you’re good enough to work for him, though you’d probably have to pass the Teyla or Ronon test somewhere along the line if you want to teach hand-to-hand.

“Here’s the thing, though; we have a problem.”

If it was possible to come to attention while sitting down, Red Eagle was doing it.

“Now, just relax. It’s not a bad problem but a good one. Major Rutherford here is trying to call dibs on you for SR-2. I’ve been told you were working out with the team before they lost Bunić, and there’s a good mesh of skills and personalities. I’m inclined to let him have you… as long as you’re willing, that is.”

“Sir?”

John could see Red Eagle was doing his best not to give him a confused-yet-grumpy puppy expression, and it was working for the most part.

“Ahh, right. Search and Rescue teams are voluntary. The other Gate teams technically aren’t, but I do my best not to try to shove a square peg into a round hole because miserable people aren’t good for anybody, including themselves. SR teams are strictly voluntary because they are the ones sent in when things have already gone past SNAFU8 and moved right into FUBAR9 territory. In Pegasus, that means you’ll see a whole lot more Wraith than you ever wanted to, and you probably won’t have to worry about grey hair or wrinkles if you go out enough times.”

John held up a warding hand when he could feel Rutherford giving him the hairy eyeball. “Now I’m not saying that to discourage you, Corporal, especially since Rutherford and his team already like you, and they need a fourth before they can go active again. However, I’m not gonna lie about what you’re getting into if you choose to join them.”

Red Eagle just frowned at him.

“I’m saying this is one of the rare times in the military that you get a choice about what you want to do.”

Red Eagles’ gaze slid to Rutherford, who gave him an almost imperceptible nod.

It took him a few seconds, but the kid finally said, “I’ll help train, if you want, but I’d prefer to go with SR-2, sir.”

John nodded, unsurprised. “I thought you’d say that,” he tapped the tablet in the center of the table to wake it up, then slid it toward Red Eagle and relaxed back into his chair. “You need to sign this. It’s orders to join SR-2.”

Belatedly, John added, “You will get hazard duty pay, for what it’s worth.”

Red Eagle picked up the stylus and glanced down warily. When he saw it was exactly what John had said it was, he started to read.

John knew the second Red Eagle came to the signature line. He exchanged a look with Rutherford, allowing himself the barest hint of a smile.

“Sir,” Red Eagle looked up slowly, “My rank is incorrect here.”

“Nope,” John said casually. “Field promotion. Minimum rank for Search and Rescue teams is Corporal, so you get a field promotion.”

It was a very recent change just to give them a reason to promote Red Eagle, but it wasn’t an illogical decision. Anybody willing to be on an SR team deserved to be an E-4 at minimum, plus the hazard pay. It was a shit job in a shit galaxy. Most of the team members weren’t going to live long enough to spend that pay, but they deserved to have the respect it showed.

“Sir?”

Taking pity on him, John explained, “You’re not the first person to come out here with an undeserved black mark or two on his record, myself included. You won’t be the last, I’m sure.” Leaning forward, he let himself show a fraction of the anger he felt about Red Eagle’s situation. “I know what happened and what’s _not_ in the reports, Austin. I make it my business to fix that kind of bullshit whenever I can. I can’t get you back up to Sergeant, not yet, but you’re Corporal again, and nobody here gives a damn what you do with your hair.”

John sat back again and ran one hand through his own non-regulation hair.

“Hell, do I look like I care what anybody does with his hair, so long as it’s neat and clean? Ronon can kick my ass—and frequently does—six ways to Serreday, and his hair is still longer than a lot of the women’s, and it’s a hell of a lot shorter than it was a couple years ago when he had dreds.”

Red Eagle’s eyebrows shot up, and he again looked to Rutherford for confirmation.

John didn’t like knowing one of his people didn’t trust him, but he thought it was a good thing that Red Eagle trusted Rutherford. Not only would Rutherford be his CO, but it meant somebody had been able to reach the understandably wary young man.

Rutherford chuckled. “He’s serious, kid. The only one worse for kicking my ass is Ms. Teyla. At least Ronon has the decency to mock me when he’s done. Ms. Teyla just gets all serene and tries to encourage me. Makes me feel like I need to go home and watch the Disney channel while I play with my Legos.”

John snorted. “Don’t I know it.”

Sometimes Ronon’s harder, unsympathetic ass-kicking was easier on a guy’s ego.

 _Tough crowd,_ John thought when Red Eagle’s expression didn’t change.

“Sirs, if I may ask, what’s the catch?”

This time, John did sigh. “Nothing like what you’re thinking. Now that I know your father is a medicine man, you’re a resource for people who’ve never lived in a culture that doesn’t immediately run to grunt candy10 as the panacea for every minor ailment. The worst thing I’ll ask you to do is let the anthropologists talk to you if we run into a culture with their own versions of medicine men and women. Even then, I'll be asking, not ordering.”

Frowning, he said, “I’m not an expert on anything, sir.”

“Oh really? What if I’d said, ‘since I know your father is a shaman’?”

Red Eagle scowled.

“Exactly,” John drawled. “I didn’t know there was a difference until about an hour ago when Major Rutherford explained it to me, and he knew because you’d explained it to him. You don’t realize how much knowledge you have that you take for granted. You don’t have to do anything except be another possible resource for the people who are trying to avoid offending any more Pegasus folks than we already have.”

The scowl faded slowly as the young man accepted that.

“What else?”

“Okay, one last thing, and this isn’t a requirement, though I do want you to strongly consider it.” John ignored the warning look Rutherford shot him and continued, “You have some physical reminders of what was done to you, things that still cause you pain on a daily basis. I’ve spoken with Atlantis, and she is willing to use the same tech she used on Tony Dex when zy first came here in order to heal you completely. She’ll be able to remove any of the wiring or other metal you have now without invasive surgery, too.”

“She can do that?” Rutherford interrupted.

“Yeah. Dex – Tony, that is – gave me permission to tell you that she completely repaired zyr knee, which zy had wrecked when zy played football for Ohio State. It was bad enough that it was a career-ending injury, and zy says there’s no pain at all now, no more metal pins either.”

“Is this offer limited to Red Eagle?”

“We can ask.” John cleared his throat. He always had a brief moment where he wondered if he was insane for calling out to an invisible person and expecting them to show up. “Hey, Atlantis? Would you mind talking to us for a second?”

Atlantis’ humanoid body appeared in the fourth chair, making both Rutherford and Red Eagle jump like startled cats. John couldn’t help but smirk a little. That reaction was never gonna get old.

“John.” She gave him a serene smile. “Major Rutherford, Corporal Red Eagle.”

“Ma’am.”

“Great Lady.”

John reminded himself they’d never seen her before, so he should cut them a break. They probably looked a lot like he had that first time she’d appeared – sort of like somebody had whacked him in the head with a 2x4” of hard rock maple.

“So, Atlantis,” John began, “I was telling Corporal Red Eagle about your offer to repair the damage that had been done to his body, and Major Rutherford was wondering if that offer was limited to just him.”

“I see. It is a logical question, which has two answers,” Atlantis told them. “The repair of the human body requires more concentration and energy than I currently have, were I to attempt to offer this to everyone in the city. Thus, the first answer is yes, I am only offering to repair Corporal Red Eagle at this point in time.

“However, the second answer is no, I am not limiting the offer entirely. Once I have the necessary ZedPMs, I will be able to repair anyone who wishes it.” She tilted her head. “In truth, there is a third answer as well, and that is if someone is gravely injured and requires urgent repair, I will rededicate resources in order to save that person’s life unless they object. As I promised Tony, I will not force anyone to accept my help.”

“Uh, Great Lady? Is the offer one I can think about for a bit?”

Atlantis inclined her head. “Of course. You may call for me if you have further questions, or if you wish to begin the repair.”

“Right. I’ll just go ahead and—” he made a vague gesture with one hand “—think about it.”

“Very well.”

With that, she disappeared.

“She’s not big on good-byes,” John commented drolly.

Rutherford shook his head, like he was shaking off the shock of having an entity he’d known existed but had never seen just casually appear.

Curious, John asked, “What’s up with calling her Great Lady?”

The scowl was back, and Red Eagle shifted in his chair.

“Didn’t seem right just callin’ her ma’am, sir. She’s more like one of the Cherokee Travelers, but it don’t seem right to call her one of the _Nunnehi_ ‘cause she’s not Cherokee.” He shrugged uncomfortably. “It just came out like that, sir.”

“Well, it looked like she was fine with it, so I am too. Sometimes I call her the First Lady if I don’t want to draw her attention by saying her name. Great Lady isn’t far from that.”

“Whatever works and doesn’t make her unhappy,” Rutherford concurred.

“Exactly. Now, are you gonna sign the orders, Red Eagle?

The very corner of the Corporal’s lips twitched, which was the first hint of an expression other than unhappiness or surprise John had seen. He could live with that, especially when Red Eagle leaned over the tablet to sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **8** SNAFU: Situation Normal, All Fucked Up  
>  **9** FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond All Reason  
>  **10** Grunt Candy: 800mg Ibuprofen. Soldiers and sailors often know it as Vitamin-M, and Airmen know it as "The Air Force Wonder Drug"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_Archday, Einstein 27, First Year of the Returned  
(April 27, 2008)_

“Hey, mind if I sit here?” Tony asked.

Dr. Jamie McNamara looked up from where she was stabbing at her mystery meat pasta and smiled.

“Go for it,” she said and gestured to the chair across from her. “How’s your day been?”

Tony set down zyr tray and settled onto the offered chair, wincing as zyr ass met the cold plastic.

Zy was really going to have to talk to Atlantis about making something to replace the chairs in the mess halls and other gathering rooms. It wasn’t just that they weren’t aesthetically pleasing, though they were ugly and clashed with the beauty of Atlantis’ construction. They were also horribly uncomfortable, especially when Tony had spent the previous night riding Ronon’s cock.

Not that zy was complaining at all; married life was _amazing_.

“Eh, decent. Paperwork follows me everywhere, even here. I’m sure you know how it is, since you have to write reports every time you turn around too.” Tony shifted the canned peaches into a tray section a little farther from zyr main dish. Zy wished they’d still had fresh fruit when zy’d gone through the line, but the orange-like things that tasted like watermelon always went fast. “How are negotiations going on the not-dragon planet?”

“Pretty well, I think.” Jamie tucked a strand of her fiery red hair behind her ear. “They’re not actually dragons, you know.”

“Well, yeah. That’s why it’s not-dragon planet.”

Jamie rolled her eyes. “Ooh, you’re brave. Isn’t that the red chicmon?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good if you add enough lemon pepper or sriracha mayo.”

Tony slathered the filet with the pinkish paste that would give it a burn and some zest. Zy had been excited when Atlantis told zyr the second mess hall was serving red chicmon. Zy’d been craving spicy foods a lot lately, and a little sriracha on the chicken-fish would do nicely.

She made a face. “Thanks, but no. I’ll stick with the goulash. I’m glad we got that agreement with that planet with the osturk. I think that’s what the meat is in this, and it’s decent if a little odd.”

“I’m impressed with how well you guys are doing with all the food negotiations.”

“Thank you. It’s difficult and can be incredibly frustrating, depending on the day, but I really enjoy seeing all the different societies there are.” Jamie watched zyr cut off a chunk of chicmon with a sort of horrified fascination. “Are you seriously going to eat it with that much sriracha mayo on it?”

Since zy was already chewing, Tony just nodded.

“Won’t that give you heartburn?”

Swallowing and reaching for zyr milk, Tony gave a lazy shrug. “I pretty much have heartburn all the time right now, so it won’t matter.”

Tony was fairly sure zy was getting part of zyr daily calcium from chewable antacid tablets.

“Better you than me; that’s all I can say,” Jamie told zyr, turning her head to the side and watching out of the corner of her eyes like it was a train wreck she couldn’t look away from completely.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Tony chuckled. “So what are the not-dragons like? I’m dying to see one, but Ronon got that worried look when I tried to talk him into letting me go to Verubriga.”

Jamie made a rude noise. “I’m not dumb enough to have an opinion on that, but I’ll tell you about the tanricu, if you want.”

“Yes, please!” Hearing about them would be better than nothing.

“Okay, well if you want to me more correct, they aren’t dragons at all. If you insist on calling them something other than tanricu, I guess you could call them not-wyvern.”

“Really? What’s the difference?” Tony hadn’t known there was a difference. Of course, zy hadn’t ever heard of a wyvern before, so that could’ve been part of the problem.

“Dragons have four legs. Wyvern only have two, but they can fold their wings so they use the front joint—which can have anywhere from one to three extra talons or ‘fingers’—to help them walk on all fours. Also, wyverns are smaller than dragons.”

Tony wasn’t sure if zy was disappointed about that or not. Then again, it would be nearly impossible to keep creatures the size of a house fed. Not to mention cleaning up after them. There wasn’t a pooper-scooper on any planet that was built for that. Maybe smaller _was_ better.

“Huh. I didn’t know that. Ronon used my DVD case from Eragon to try to show me what they look like.”

“Well, I guess that works to show that they’re reptilian, but they’re really not the same thing at all.” Jamie speared the last few noodles with her fork as she tried to explain the differences. “Wyvern and Verubriga’s tanricu are a lot more sleek and snakey, I guess you could say. Their bodies kind of remind me of a great dane: they’re skinny at the hindquarters, but their chests are extremely muscular. The chest muscles have to be big because those are the muscles that power their huge wings. Of course, they have a long tail to balance their heads and chests when they’re flying, and the tip of the tail is triangular.”

“So they really can fly, then?” Tony felt that was the most important thing about the tanricu. Earth had had monster lizards at some point, but dragons could _fly_.

“Oh, yeah. Definitely. They’re a lot swifter and more agile in the air than they are on the ground.” Jamie finished off her goulash and neatly stacked her silverware on the edge of her tray. “The first time we saw them, they didn’t fly so much as dive-bomb us and scare the crap out of us, but we’ve been there enough now that we’ve been able to see them in the air. They’re a full rainbow of colors and quite beautiful when you’re not worried they’re after your spleen.”

“I wish I could go with you to Verubriga so I could see them in person,” Tony said wistfully. “It would be worth sitting through the boring negotiation meetings for that.”

Jamie gave an inelegant snort. “No you don’t, believe me. I was thrilled when the high priestess agreed to let me go back to my regular duties so I didn’t have to keep going. I know how to negotiate, and I’m good at it, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t get tedious sometimes. That’s doubly true when the other side is so reticent that just getting them to consider trading is a huge win.”

“What? I thought I heard somebody say you were there for the duration.”

“I thought I’d have to be, but I told High Priestess Faerl that I’d like to remain behind because I needed to be with my team. She assumed I’m the leader of my team because I’m the only woman, and she told me it was fine if I wanted to stay with them. She was sure they’d need my guidance by now.”

Tony snickered. “They probably do. My husband said he saw Santiago from SR-1 kicking Fairmont’s ass the other day. Seung was already spread out on the floor looking like he was gonna cry. Though I have to say I’ve learned to take Ronon’s less-than-complimentary descriptions of Earthers post-sparring practice with a grain of salt. Or a whole salt shaker. Whichever.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure Ronon was on the money,” Jamie laughed, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “My teammates are badasses, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world; however, those two have the unfortunate idea stuck in their heads that women are physically weak. It’s hard for them to see a female as a threat.”

Tony snorted and rolled zyr eyes. “I had assumed that kind of thinking would get beaten out of everybody in Colorado before they were sent to us.”

“You’d be surprised.” Jamie said wryly. “I kick their asses regularly, and they’re still shocked every time it happens.”

Looking at her, zy could see why people would assume she wasn’t a physical powerhouse. Tony, however, was smart enough to know better, especially after having worked with Ziva and now Teyla. Neither woman was a giant, but both could kick zyr ass. Zy had no doubt Jamie was the same way, even though she was petite and looked more like she’d stepped out of Irish folklore than anything else.

“Don’t they know women have a higher pain threshold than men? Well, I don’t know if that’s true, but I remember hearing it or reading it somewhere.”

Jamie shook her head and picked up her dinner roll. She ripped off a piece and used it to mop up the goulash sauce before popping it in her mouth, saying, “That’s not necessarily true. There have been a ton of studies, and they rarely agree with each other. There are even studies that say women have different pain thresholds based on where they are in their monthly cycle.”

She shrugged and ripped off another piece of her roll.

“Personally, I think that pain is such a subjective thing that you can’t accurately test for it, especially when the brain reacts the same way to physical and emotional pain. What might be a seven for me on a one-through-ten scale might be a ten for your, or vice versa. That doesn’t make either person’s pain any less legitimate.

“And then there’s the fact that people being tested give different responses based on the gender of the tester.”

“Ah, men try to be tougher in front of another guy?” There had been times when Tony had gone another round or pushed zyrself further in a single training session than zy should have, afraid of looking weak in front of the guys.

“Nope. Just the opposite, actually.”

“Really? That kind of surprises me.”

Jamie tilted her head and studied zyr. “Let me guess: you pushed yourself in front of guys because you were afraid of getting ‘caught’ out as a kysra.” When Tony agreed, she continued, “Most XYs aren’t worried about that. They’re tapping into their hindbrain that tells them they need to display and prove themselves to XXs so that they’ll be picked to continue their genetic line.”

“Like a peacock strutting his feathers.”

“Pretty much. Most guys don’t even know they’re doing it.”

Okay. That made sense.

“But I don’t do that because my genetic line will continue no matter if I’m with an XX or an XY.”

“Exactly,” Jamie agreed, looking pleased.

Tony wondered if it was because zy had picked up what she was trying to say, or because zy was interested in what she had to say in general. Zy got the feeling neither was very common among the general military population.

“So the Lorain people aren’t super badassed just because their leader is a woman?”

“No, and they’re just as sexist, but in a different way.” At Tony’s surprised expression, she elaborated, “I don’t think the threat of the Wraith allows a culture to have weak leaders for very long. I like and respect Faerl, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s right to exclude one gender from being candidates for leadership. There are good male leaders, good female leaders, and I’m sure there would be good kysra leaders if any were ever in that position. The same way, there are terrible male, female, or kysra leaders for a variety of reasons. What I do like is the way the Lorains choose their leader.”

“You have a point,” Tony was forced to admit, thinking about Morrow and Shepard. “I’ve worked for men and women. Some have been better than others, but they’ve all had good and bad points. What do the Lorains do to elect their leader? I assume it’s some kind of democracy.”

“No, actually, it’s not. It’s all merit-based and has very little to do with a person’s popularity.”

“How does that work?”

Tony scraped some of the sriracha mayo off the chicmon. The way zyr mouth was burning and zyr eyes watering told zyr zy had been a bit too enthusiastic with the sauce before. Zy was out of milk to wash it down with, too.

“Well, first the term priestess doesn’t denote a religious belief but a mastery of mental and physical skills. Faerl, for instance, became the leader when she reached their highest level of mastery of their particular martial arts and defeated the rest of the tribe, including the former leader, in physical games as well as games of logic and mathematics and something they call governance.”

Tony gave her a skeptical look. “Governance? How can they judge how well someone will govern them before the person makes any decisions?”

“It’s pretty interesting, even if it sounds a lot like a role-playing game. The person being tested is assigned a group of people to lead through a variety of tasks based on a storyteller’s narrative and a set of dice that force the leader to react to chance occurrences. She’s judged based on the success of the task and how well her group is getting along at the end. I understand they frequently choose people who are exes or who are known to despise each other.”

Tony’s eyes widened, and zy gave a grim laugh. “I bet _that_ gets interesting!”

“I wouldn’t want to go through it, but it is logical. No matter how large or small a population, people are going to fight.”

There was no question about that. More than two people on Gibbs’ team had been too many when the boss was pitting them against one another.

“So being a priestess doesn’t have anything to do with a religion or worship of some kind?”

It seemed like a strange word to choose if it wasn’t religious at all.

“Nope, not that I could see. I spoke extensively with Ontona, one of the other priestesses, trying to figure out exactly what they do believe. Like most of Pegasus, they have a respect bordering on reverence for the Alterans, but they don’t worship them outright like the Daganians did or like the Athosians used to.”

Jamie smiled faintly. “I did ask about the Vedaeus, and Ontona was shocked I had even heard of them. She clammed up on me until I told her we had taken in a Satedan a few years back, and I got the impression she never would have said anything about the Vedaeus if I hadn’t brought it up first.”

Another strand of hair had slipped loose, making her frown in irritation. She produced a hair tie from somewhere and pulled it all back into a sleek ponytail before continuing. “I couldn’t get her to say much, though I probably would have if I’d had more time, but another of the priestesses came in while we were talking and shut her down. Then she sent her to do something that took her quite a ways from the village, and I didn’t get to see her again.”

“How many priestesses are there?” Tony asked, giving up on the chicmon entirely. Zy moved on to zyr peas and had a brief flash of amusement at the thought of Doc Xander being unable to get away from his most hated vegetable even in another galaxy.

“I’m not sure,” she replied thoughtfully. “Nobody would give us exact numbers for anything—humans, tanricu, or the aknata in the herds. The most I could get was that priestess is a title, and the number varied depending on the population and the most recent challenges.”

“So the challenge isn’t limited to the high priestess?”

“No, not at all. In fact, anyone can challenge the lowest ranked priestess, then she could work her way up to high priestess if she were that good and that determined.”

“But only the level just below could challenge the next level up, right? Otherwise I’d think all they’d ever get done would be one challenge after another.” Tony knew that certainly wouldn’t be conducive to growing crops, preparing for Wraith attacks, or otherwise running a productive society.

“That’s what Ontona made it sound like. Of course, I assume an unpopular priestess would be challenged more frequently until she ended up losing the title or position she had reached, so I guess popularity does play some role in the process.”

“What about the current high priestess?”

“Faerl is extremely popular and well-respected,” Jamie replied. “According to the people I was able to speak with, she’s made a lot of good decisions that have helped the population grow, so she hasn’t had any challengers in several years. If she’s anything like her predecessor, she’ll have to convince one of the lower priestesses to challenge for her position when she wants to step down.”

Unspoken between them was the knowledge that Faerl would have to survive the Wraith and any natural disasters as well as diseases and viruses common to a population without advanced medical technology.

“Wow, that’s certainly different from deciding who should govern based on how much BS they can spin and how well they can trash-talk their opponent during their campaign. I wonder if we could institute something like that back on Earth.”

Jamie smirked. “It’s a nice thought, but it wouldn’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because the Lorains have few enough people that they can use a single, agreed-upon definition of fiscal and moral responsibility to determine the winner of the governance competitions. All the people are in the same situation and at the same economic level—poverty, basically—and need the same things.”

“Unlike the diverse communities among the people of Earth.” Tony could see how that would make a huge difference. Every nation on Earth had people ranging from subsistence or utter poverty to extreme wealth.

“Besides,” Jamie continued, wiping her mouth with her napkin before tossing it on her tray beside her plate. “For all that the high priestess has to prove herself before she gets the position, once she’s there, it’s a dictatorship. She has the lower priestesses to advise her, but that doesn’t mean she’s required to take their advice. She could arbitrarily decide one day that all right-handed people have to work the fields, and all the left-handed people have to hunt. I know I’d hate living under someone with that kind of ultimate power, no matter how smart or well-intentioned they might be.”

Tony raised a brow. “Wait, nobody could do anything different? What if it’s a stupid order, like the example you just came up with?”

“People might grumble, but what the high priestess orders is what happens. Once she says, ‘as I say, so shall it be,’ it’s a done deal. Anybody who rebels is punished with a fine, physical punishment like being flogged or put to labor at the most unpopular tasks, or by being cast out for a certain amount of time. That last one is the most serious because someone on their own doesn’t live long. That’s true for any world in Pegasus.”

Tony winced. “That sounds harsh.”

“I guess so,” Jamie said pensively. “I see why it is that way, though. There are so few Verubriganians that they can’t afford to have the tribe split. They barely have a large enough population to meet the minimum number for a viable civilization as it is. I had more people in my graduating high school class than they have in their entire village.”

Tony stopped twirling zyr straw and poking at the ice cubes left in zyr empty cup. “I thought they were called the Lorains.”

“Right, they are. The humans are the Lorains. The not-wyvern are the tanricu. The Lorains consider the tanricu windsisters and include them as beings of the planet, so whenever the Lorains are referring to themselves and the tanricu together, they say Verubriganians.”

“Wait, so are the tanricu sentient?” Tony frowned. “I think I actually mean sapient?”

“Yes, they’re definitely sentient. They’re not at the human level of sapience, but there’s more to them than, say, a dog or a cat back on Earth. They’re aware of themselves as individuals, and they have their own organizational structure, which is called a whirlwind.”

“They govern themselves?”

“Not quite. It’s more like a pack hierarchy. The whirlwinds are composed of anywhere from five to twenty tanricu, and their leader or alpha is called a mair.11 Then there’s the head Mair who rules over all the whirlwinds, and she is always the partner to the human high priestess.”

Jamie leaned forward and grinned. “Now this is the really cool thing that I just _know_ is going to send the biologists into raptures: whichever mair is the head Mair actually undergoes a biological change that makes her about a third larger than the others. Her scales turn a single, glossy, duocrome color, and she forms a bond with the high priestess.”

“Whoa, seriously?! That sounds like some freaky sci-fi kind of thing.”

Jamie laughed brightly. “Tony, you’re saying that sounds sci-fi as you sit in another galaxy having lunch on a sapient space ship. Seriously?”

Tony gave a rueful grin. “You have a point. But finish what you were saying about this partnership. Can all the tanricu form bonds with humans?”

Still smiling, Jamie answered, “Yes, from what I understand. I don’t know how it works, since they don’t speak out loud or anything. There isn’t any telepathic communication as far as I’ve been told, though it can seem like it if the human and the tanricu have been paired a long time because they’ll just know what the other wants.”

“That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of,” Tony said. Zy heaved a sigh. “Now I _really_ want to meet one of them.”

“You can just stop with the sad puppy eyes, Tony Dex. There is no way in hell I’d sneak you through to Verubriga.”

“Oh, I know. Ronon would kill you, right?”

Jamie cocked her head and stared at zyr incredulously. “Seriously?”

“I hear it all the time,” Tony assured her, a bitter twist to zyr lips. “If I weren’t positive Ronon has no idea people think of him as my guardian or whatever, he and I would have problems.”

“For the love of….” Jamie rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

“Yeah, well. People are idiots, even when they mean well.”

“It’s probably not intentional, Tony. My educated guess is they have no idea they’re subconsciously carrying over the Earther idea that kysra aren’t capable of making their own decisions, which is a bunch of aknata crap anyway. You do what you want, but if it were me, I wouldn’t put up with it. You’re an intelligent, articulate adult, who is a part of our law enforcement system, and you have every right to be treated that way.”

Tony made a face. “I think it was kind of a joke at first, because everyone is intimidated by Ronon in general, you know? I’ve probably let it go on too long, and we’re going to need to have a come-to-Vedaeus meeting.”

“If nothing else, you can tell them that treating you like that implies that Ronon would have sex with someone who didn’t have the intellect to be capable of giving consent.”

Tony sat up straight and sucked in a shocked breath. “Oooo, ouch! You mean if they want to be scared of him, give them a reason?”

“I’d go the kick in the pants route first, but if that doesn’t work, then sure.”

Tony was going to have to think about it, but zy was pretty sure Jamie was right.

“So if being afraid of Ronon isn’t why you wouldn’t sneak me to see the tanricu…?”

Tony grimaced at zyr tray and let zyrself leave the rest of zyr peas. Canned peas really were disgusting.

“Why am I so adamant that I won’t take you?” Jamie finished for zyr.

“Yeah.”

“Because you _are_ a smart, articulate adult. If you want on a Gate team, earn it, bucko.” She grinned to soften the harsh statement. “I’m not sure what you know about how we qualify for the chance to be on a team, but it involves a heck of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I went through about a hundred hours of training and qualifying with various weapons before I was eligible. I waited another three Satedan months before Sheppard and Jordan agreed to give me a shot.”

“I didn’t realize that.” Zyr brow furrowed. “But if you’ve all had so much training, then why were we just talking about your teammates getting their asses kicked?”

Jamie snorted. “All the training in the world won’t cure a blind spot. They’re not inept by any means; they just have a blind spot when it comes to women being capable of the same sort of violence and skill that they are.”

That made sense. Tony hadn’t been quite so bad, but zy’d had a sort of blind spot until zy had seen that women on the police force were every bit as trained and capable as their counterparts.

 “Fine.” Tony heaved a melodramatic sigh and purposely widened zyr eyes and pushed out zyr bottom lip in a parody of a pout. “If you won’t help me out that way, will you at least share your chocolate pudding? They were out of that _and_ the orange/watermelon things when I went through.”

“That I can do,” Jamie said, snickering as she slid the dish onto Tony’s tray. “I’m going to go grab one of those turnovers left from breakfast instead anyway. I’m not sure why I took the pudding in the first place.”

Tony grinned and batted zyr eyelashes. “Because you love me.”

Jamie slid her chair back and stood. “Nope, but you do make for nice scenery while I’m eating.”

Tony’s jaw dropped.

With a grin and a wink, Jamie walked away.

*~*~*~*

_Keplerday, Einstein 29, First Year of the Returned  
(April 19, 2008)_

“I want him gone! I want them both gone!” Rodney ranted, his face flushed with fury as he paced the length of Sam’s office. “I won’t have anyone on the city who thinks _sabotage_ is a _prank_!”

Sam was still seated calmly behind her desk. She pushed back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Rodney just knew she was going to say something condescending.

“Really, Rodney? Isn’t that kind of hypocritical? You turn off people’s hot water all the time. You know he didn’t mean for it to happen.”

Rodney spun around and glared at her. That wasn’t the same thing at all!

“First of all, when I do it, I’m not an idiot. I don’t accidentally give anybody burns over most of their body. Secondly, every time I turn off somebody’s hot water, it’s punitive. Not only that, but I _tell_ them,” he snapped. “I come right out and tell them they’re stupid, they screwed up, and I’m punishing them by turning off their hot water for however long it is.”

“So if Hoffman had told Wheeler he was going to shut off his hot water, then it would have been okay?”

Rodney rolled his eyes. “Oh, give me a break, Carter! I don’t do it randomly to anyone who annoys me. If I did, hardly anyone in the city would ever have hot water! It’s like a parent sending one of their brats to stand in the corner: it’s meant to inconvenience them, possibly embarrass them, but never do they mean to harm them. If people are too stupid to figure out that they need to talk to their friends and ask if they can use their shower for a few days, then don’t belong on my city anyway.”

Sam arched a brow. “ _Your_ city?”

“Yeah well I’m sure Atlantis doesn’t want stupid people either. Too many stupid people would be a danger to Tony, and she won’t allow that.”

Carter pursed her lips, which Rodney thought meant she agreed but wasn’t going to admit it.

“That doesn’t mean you can kick them off the city for unintentional damage.”

Rodney narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

“Are you just playing devil’s advocate now? Because that is not something the Sam Carter I know would ever say. _Doctor_ Samantha Carter the scientist would have lost her mind at the thought of _biologists_ screwing around with the infrastructure at Cheyenne Mountain.”

 Sam’s eyes went wide, and she turned bright red. She shifted and uncrossed her arms.

“You might not be completely wrong.” She managed an apologetic half-smile. “Tony will figure out what Hoffman intended. Talk to me about the academic sabotage. How many people reported lost or incorrect data?”

Partially mollified, Rodney huffed and finally took the chair she’d previously tried to get him to use.

“Fine. Here’s what I found on server 27.”

He would let Tony make zyr reports, and then he’d demand the idiots be sent back on the _Daedalus_ …if it ever showed up.

*~*~*~*

_Casimirday, Einstein 31, First Year of the Returned  
(April 21, 2008)_

Three weeks. Three Earth weeks exactly since the _Daedalus_ should’ve arrived with their supplies, and Sam was freaking out. It was all internal because she knew better than most how having a calm leader could make the difference between dying on a Goa’uld ship and pulling off a daring rescue. Sam had been and would remain calm and positive in front of everyone, even Colonel Sheppard.

She always put the best possible spin on the situation while still being realistic. The truth was, every time the Gate opened for another databurst, there was a part of her that wondered if this would be the time the SGC sent through a device or chemical that would eliminate what they thought was a foothold situation.

She never gave away a hint of what she was thinking, though. Instead, she talked about how the _Daedalus_ had better be bringing her expensive chocolate and her favorite dessert wine. She remarked on how she was eager to see some of the people she knew were slated to come to Atlantis as of the last roster. She joked about sending tava beans back home and demanding coffee beans instead. With the scientists, she discussed the possibilities some of their discoveries might have for Earth.

Most of all, she kept the city functioning, trying to keep that careful balance between being an Air Force Colonel and the IOA representative. Never ever did she say she thought it was possible the _Daedalus_ wouldn’t come back.

Now three weeks after the _Daedalus_ was supposed to arrive, their supplies were getting thin, even with the extra trade they’d been able to coordinate. They were down to twenty days of food left before she wouldn’t have a choice but to cut everyone to half rations. She was already considering cutting less active personnel to two-thirds portions, especially if it would keep their Gate teams and patrol personnel on full rations for longer.

Sam had run the numbers, and it wouldn’t make a huge difference, but there were enough administrative and scientific personnel, including Sam herself, that it would mean they had food for another week, and that was with all Gate teams on full rations the whole time. Anybody going out of the city on a regular basis would be the absolute last people to cut back.

It was not a decision she thought she’d ever have to make.

She had the irrational urge to stomp her feet and scream because she’d taken the assignment with the understanding that the Daedalus would be making supply runs she’d be able to count on. _Weir_ was the one who had agreed to make the trip to a destination from which there might not be any possible return. Sam was tough. She’d done a lot of badass things, if she did say so herself. What she hadn’t done was go without food for a long period, nor had she ever had to watch anyone else go without. It was a terrifying prospect.

Now this.

Sam could hardly force herself to finish the message from General Landry and the IOA. It was confirmation of what John had suspected and Sam had feared: the SGC was concerned that they had lost focus on the mission. In layman’s terms, they were afraid she and John had gone native and had taken everyone else with them.

There were other things in the message that concerned Sam, things she’d have to get answers for from Atlantis herself. It was only after she had those answers and responded to General Landry on the following Earth Monday that the _Daedalus_ would depart for Pegasus.

Thinking it was better to just get it over with, Sam purposely called the entity’s attention for the first time.

“Atlantis? Would you mind coming to speak with me?”

Atlantis appeared immediately, and the office windows frosted.

“Greetings, Hera. I have noted that you change your office windows when you are in conference. I have done so for you this time.”

“Oh, thank you.”

The entity called Atlantis, who was clothed in a business suit that could have come from Earth except for the tendency of the navy fabric to shimmer, stepped forward and sat in the chair across from Sam.

“You are distressed.”

Sam let herself scrub her face with her hands and sigh. Doubtless Atlantis had seen her do far worse.

“I am. Have you read the transmission from Earth?”

“I assume you speak of the one to you, Hera?”

Sam nodded.

“No, I have not. Shall I do so?”

Sam debated with herself for a few seconds, then nodded, resigned.

“You might as well. You need to know what it says.”

Atlantis went still, then tilted her head.

“Ah, I see why you are troubled. The Earth organization believes they no longer have your loyalty. They wish to replace you.”

“Yes. They’re sending a man named Richard Woolsey.”

“You do not like him.”

Sam had to be careful how she responded to that. She didn’t want to make the situation worse.

“I think they believe you will want him here because he has a delta…no, a _kysra_ lover. They don’t say it outright, but I would assume he’s bringing zyr with him.”

Atlantis seemed to study Sam, her eyes completely black rather than full of the shooting stars and supernovas that Sam found so fascinating.

“He does not treat zyr well,” she concluded.

Sam heaved a sigh and let herself slouch, one elbow resting on her desk.

“I think _he_ thinks he treats zyr just fine. From an Earth perspective, he does, at least from what I’ve seen.” She pressed her lips together, then had a fleeting moment where she realized her lips were dry, but she didn’t know where her chapstick was. “From a Satedan point of view…well, Woolsey definitely doesn’t treat zyr like Ronon treats Tony. She’s also younger than he is. A _lot_ younger. It makes me concerned for Jae—that’s Woolsey’s lover—and concerned for how you’ll react.”

“I have had many long discussions with Tony, Hera. I am aware of what the kysra on Earth suffer. No matter how well zy is treated, I will offer Kysra Jae a place of refuge within Dex Tower. If zy wishes to retain this Woolsey as a lover, zy may choose to have him accompany zyr. However, if he mistreats zyr, I will banish him from the tower or send him back to Earth. All kysra must be safe, and one who harms any of my kysra is a danger to all.”

Sam nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. That didn’t sound so bad. Banishment from the Dex Tower or going back to Earth wasn’t as bad as, say, beaming him into the ocean or killing him with nanites. Sam didn’t know the limits of what Atlantis would do in a given situation, and that was the problem.

“Okay, then you saw the part about negotiating with Woolsey and Daniel for a ZPM?”

“Yes,” Atlantis replied. “I am open to such negotiations.”

“Great. You probably also noticed that Maggiore Andrea Cattaneo has requested his kysra child be sent to him. Zy is in Russia with a friend of Cattaneo’s. It says zy will be eighteen in a few months, so hopefully custody isn’t difficult. I didn’t think you’d have a problem with that.”

“Indeed not. All kysra are welcome here, especially the kyta of those who dwell here already.”

“Right. That makes sense.” Sam took a deep breath and broached the topic she was most worried about. “You saw the IOA has appointed someone to replace Tony as Chief Investigator.”

“I did. I think, however, that there are enough people and enough misdeeds that we will need both Tony and this new man, Mason Grant. Tony spends far more time than zy reports investigating misdeeds, mediating disputes, and setting fines and judgements. Zy also works on the city laws and is attempting to gather information about laws on other planets. It will be good for zyr to have help, especially as the kyta grows and takes more of zyr energy.”

“I have wondered how zy managed to turn in so many reports and only bill for forty-eight or fifty-four hours per Satedan week,” Sam admitted with a frown. “I’ve been concerned about zyr working too hard, but I guess I thought Ronon would put a stop to it if that was what was happening.”

“Since the conversations took place in public, I do not believe I am breaking a confidence when I tell you that just two days ago, Tony discussed with three different people how it was incorrect to assume Ronon’s reactions will affect zyr behavior.” Atlantis tilted her head, watching Sam’s reaction. “Zy was adamant in pointing out that zy was an adult and capable of making zyr own choices. Not only that, but behaving as though Ronon were zyr parent rather than zyr husband demeaned them and their relationship.”

Oh. Oh crap.  

Sam propped her elbows on the desk, folded her hands and rested her forehead against her hands.

In saying it out loud and hearing Atlantis’ response, Sam realized that it was true. She had been expecting Ronon to act like Tony’s parent and prevent zyr from overworking. If Sam had been worried about Sheppard overworking, she would’ve talked to him about taking a break. Why hadn’t she done the same thing with Tony?

“Hera?”

Sam heaved a sigh and let her arms fall to the desk.

“I suddenly realized I still have a ways to go before I’ve purged my own prejudices, that’s all. I _am_ concerned about Tony working too many hours, but it’s because zy is just as susceptible to burnout as anyone else. I know zy probably feels like zy has something to prove, but either Sheppard or I talk to Wolfe when he’s slipped into workaholic mode, as he tends to do. Heck, Sheppard and I talk to each other when we think the other is forgetting to come up for air. We’ll have to watch and talk to Tony when zy does the same thing.”

That decided, she moved on, “I’m so grateful for what zy has done to change this place. I overheard someone—I won’t say who if you don’t already know—tell another person that they actually felt safe walking back to their quarters if they stayed late in the labs because another scientist was in the DC.”

“Tony would be pleased to know such a thing.”

Sam nodded. “I’ll tell zyr when I talk to zyr about the new person coming. I just have to figure out how to tell zyr and make zyr believe it’s not a horrible thing.”

“Perhaps wait until after the celebration of Ronon’s birth Tony is planning on the fifth of YangHui.”

“If you’re sure, that’s what I’ll do.”

Atlantis inclined her head.

Well, that meant Sam could put it off for a little while.

“Hera…Sam. It occurs to me that you believe you must leave. That is not so.”

“Well, it kind of is.” She dropped her gaze to her clenched hands on her desk and refused to give in to the urge to pout or cry. Neither one was the dignified response of a woman her age. Still, she had grown to love the people of Atlantis and would be heartbroken when she had to leave. “Woolsey is going to replace me, and I’ll get orders for where I have to go next.”

“No, that will not happen. I agreed to _negotiate_ with this Woolsey and your Daniel. I did not agree to allow either of them—or anyone else, for that matter—to replace you as Hera of my city. Nor have I agreed to allow a military leader other than John Sheppard. I am aware that the Earthers will try to put another in his place as well.”

Sam felt like she’d been put in a centrifuge set on maximum speed.

“Pardon? I—I don’t think—I mean—can you _do_ that?”

 “Sam, I will not permit another to take your place. I will only agree to negotiate with the others if you are the Hera of the people within my structure, including those who wish to speak with me. Unless you wish to leave, no one can remove you. Do you wish to stay?”

“Yes!” The response felt like it sprang directly from her heart to her lips. “I want to stay, Atlantis. I want nothing more, but I don’t understand why you’d want me to stay. I haven’t done a very good job, you know. I’ve made so many mistakes I can hardly count them!”

Atlantis smiled fondly at her. “Hera Sam, there is no such thing as a perfect human. Even our Kysra, the very first Kysra whom I helped to design, even zy made errors in judgement. It is the nature of choice. Sometimes we will choose incorrectly.

“I myself have made mistakes, terrible mistakes that cost millennia of pain and regret. Yes, you are young, and this is your first command. I know that. I am aware that another with more experience might make different decisions, but I would have you instead, so long as you wish to remain.”

“But you just said someone with more experience would be better,” Sam protested.

It gave her a warm feeling to know Atlantis liked her, but they needed to think of what was better for all the humans of the city, not just Sam.

“No, not better. Different,” Atlantis countered. “That person would make different mistakes.”

Atlantis reached across the desk and took Sam’s hand in her own.

“So many leaders choose to lead for their own benefit. _You_ seek to make the lives of those under your authority better, safer, even if it means you sacrifice your own comforts. Instead of elevating those who do you favors or flatter your ego, you praise honesty and diligence at one’s work, especially when that work is for the betterment of the whole. You treat each person with respect, looking into their eyes when speaking to them rather than ordering and dismissing them from you without a glance.

“Sam, you do not understand how rare a creature you are. You are willing to admit when you are wrong, even when it is difficult, and all that you have learned from the time of your birth says something different.”

“I don’t remember doing anything like that.”

“But you did, Hera. When you first met Tony, did you not think it was unfortunate that zy had come? Did you not think that zy would be trouble, that zy would be much as the Earth culture says all kysra are?”

Sam’s cheeks flushed in shame, but she nodded.

“Yet you gave zyr a chance. You treated zyr justly, and when the time came to make a decision about giving zyr real authority over the people, you did so and told zyr you were glad zy was here. To do that, you must have had a paradigm shift of great significance.”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t think of zyr as a delt at all anymore, or I don’t do it consciously anyway. Tony is…zy’s just Tony.”

Atlantis nodded, her smile satisfied. “As you say, you changed your own mind. To do so, you must be without false pride. You must value truth more than your past ideals. Even when I was Joined with the other four, we did not always do this, much to my shame.

“It is for all these reasons that you are a good leader, Sam. One day, you will be truly great, and on that day, you will still be Hera of this people. I will have no other while you choose to take this responsibility on your shoulders.

“I say again, no one can force you to leave, my Hera. It is the same for John Sheppard. You are mine so long as you wish to be.”

*~*~*~*

_Tesladay, Einstein 32, First Year of the Returned  
(April 22, 2008)_

Tony finished typing zyr most recent report, saved it, then sat back with a sigh. Not even an office chair specifically designed for zyr by Atlantis was comfortable after sitting in it for three hours straight while zy worked on reports and paperwork.

Having a honeymoon had been fantastic, better than fantastic, yet the interruption to zyr work meant zy was playing catch-up now. It had also been an interruption to zyr role of Chief Investigator, which somehow meant the civilians thought they could go back to pre-Tony, business-as-usual crap.

Needless to say, they’d been receiving prompt reeducation since Tony had come back.

The most serious case Tony had to deal with was something that never should have been allowed to escalate as far as it had, but neither of the bitter rivals had reported their grievances to zyr, nor had their colleagues.

According to the information Tony had dragged out of the men and those who knew them, the two scientists had started out doing things that were stupid, harmless, or embarrassing at first. That didn’t last long. By the time Tony was taking zyr first trip away from the city, they’d progressed to sabotaging each other’s projects and data.

Tony had been blissfully unaware of the problem because, of those who knew what was happening, everyone zy had interviewed had variations of three excuses: they’d thought the department heads should handle it, they hadn’t realized things were escalating so quickly between the two rival marine biologists, or they hadn’t realized they could go to zyr for help.

Tony had zyr suspicions that none of those excuses were entirely true for several of them. Zy was more apt to think that prejudices against kysra were still running strong. Scientists were merely human, after all, and they had plenty of their own biases and logical failures.

Tony had no idea how long the situation might have lasted, but only a few days ago, Dr. Hoffman made an error that resulted in serious injury to Dr. Wheeler, and it could have led to disaster for an entire floor of people if Atlantis hadn’t discovered it.

Tony shook zyr head and thought back to the interrogation: 

 

> “Right. Let’s try this again,” Tony said with forced calm despite the fact that zy would much rather give the man at the interview table to Ronon for a few hours of IST: Individualized, Specialized Training, which people called being _iced_.
> 
> Rodney and Atlantis already wanted to send Hoffman through a space gate for screwing with Atlantis’ systems. Tony wasn’t quite there, if only because someone should have come to zyr long before the escalating pranks and sabotage became more than just pranks, but the more zy had to deal with the ass, the more zy was starting to see Rodney’s point.
> 
> Dr. Thomas Hoffman was a good-looking guy with blond hair further lightened by the sun, tan skin, and light blue eyes. He had obvious muscle, even beneath the standard-issue uniforms, and Tony thought he’d probably talked his way into the beds of more than one person just based on his looks. He looked like a California surfer, but his attitude problem was so obvious that he could have been a supermodel and still been ugly in Tony’s mind.
> 
> Hoffman stood to his full 6’2”, trying to intimidate Tony with the whole two inches of difference in their heights.
> 
> “I was told I needed to give my statement to an investigator. I’m not going to talk to _you_.” He pointed at Tony and sneered, “I don’t care what anyone says; I know what kind of freak you are.”
> 
> Atlantis made a furious sound in Tony’s mind and sent an image of Hoffman walking through the Gate into open space.
> 
> Tony did zyr best not to roll zyr eyes. If zy wasn’t intimidated by a Marine tripping on a PTSD-fueled ‘roid rage, Leroy Jethro Gibbs on a rampage, or an MD suffering a psychotic break, Hoffman sure as hell wasn’t going to do it.
> 
> Tony stood silent and stared at Hoffman through narrowed eyes until the man began to fidget. Only once he’d swallowed nervously did Tony casually pace forward to circle behind him. Zy drew close enough to speak directly into his ear.
> 
> Starting on a whisper and ending on a shout, Tony hissed, “Sit _down_. _NOW._ ”
> 
> Hoffman sat, nearly missing the chair.
> 
> Atlantis snickered, a tickle in Tony’s mind.
> 
> Stone-faced, Tony paced behind Hoffman another few seconds until the scientist was looking over his shoulder nervously, trying to keep Tony in sight. If he’d been anything but a blowhard with more degrees than brains, the mild tactic wouldn’t have worked. It certainly wouldn’t have worked on someone like Ronon…or Rodney, for that matter. As it was, Tony didn’t even have to ask a question before Hoffman broke.
> 
> “It was Wheeler’s fault!” the scientist blurted out.
> 
> Tony rounded the table slowly until zy faced him. Zy crossed zyr arms over zyr chest and raised one eyebrow.
> 
> Hoffman flushed a blotchy red.
> 
> “It was!”
> 
> Tony raised the other brow.
> 
> Hoffman dropped his gaze and swallowed tightly.
> 
> “Okay, okay! I didn’t mean to hurt him that bad! We’ve been pranking each other since he got here with that group that came through the Stargate instead of on the _Daedalus_.”
> 
> “Pranking?” Tony purred. “That’s what you call first- and second-degree burns?”
> 
> “It wasn’t supposed to do that! I meant to have his shower turn ice cold after two minutes, but it didn’t work the first time I tried it. He just whined like a little bitch to one of those fixer techs like that little Chinese girl, and they changed it back.”
> 
> // _Fixer techs?_ // Atlantis repeated indignantly. //It must have been Rodney, since his computer was used to correct what was assumed to be a malfunction. He is no mere _fixer tech._ //
> 
> Tony almost rolled zyr eyes. Atlantis adored Rodney, which meant Dr. Hoffman’s time on the city was limited no matter the outcome of Tony’s investigation. It didn’t help that zy was fairly certain the “little Chinese girl” was Miko Kusanagi, who wasn’t Chinese and happened to be one of the most brilliant people in the city. Not that Tony was going to share that thought with Atlantis…yet.
> 
> “So what you’d done was fixed. Then what?”
> 
> “I thought I figured out what I did wrong….” Hoffman huffed and clenched his fist on the table.
> 
> “And?”
> 
> Unable to meet Tony’s gaze, Hoffman stared into the ceiling as he confessed, “Well, I changed it again. I had to disable the safety mechanism to get the adjustment to—to, you know, stick.”
> 
> //He did _what_?!// Atlantis was silent for a beat, then growled, //He did more than that! He disabled the temperature safety settings for that entire floor! I am correcting what I can, and I will notify Dr. Zelenka to have him send someone to correct the parts that must be physically moved, since Rodney is gone with his team. There are three crystals that must be replaced because what Hoffman did overloaded them.//
> 
> “It didn’t occur to you that disabling the temperature safety was an indication you were doing something wrong… _again_?” Tony snapped.
> 
> “I looked it up before I tried it,” he protested stubbornly. “It wasn’t supposed to go hot instead of cold. It probably happened because the city is so old. I don’t know how it started out, but it’s over-complicated, and McKay really junked it up in places too. If it had been one of Earth’s ships, this wouldn’t have happened.”
> 
> Atlantis growled wordlessly. If a snicker was a ticklish sensation, Atlantis’ irritated growl was like chewing tinfoil and sent the equivalent shiver down Tony’s spine.
> 
> Everyone had been told about Atlantis being a living entity, so it was beyond Tony’s understanding that a supposedly intelligent man would say something so foolish out loud where she could hear him. Zy made a mental note to talk to Zelenka about placing a little wager regarding when Hoffman would be kicked off the city and how far he’d push Atlantis’ temper before it happened.
> 
> “Right.” Tony took the chair across from Hoffman and touched the screen of zyr tablet to bring up the rest of the information zy’d gathered. “ _That_ might have been an accident, Dr. Hoffman, but your colleagues have reported other serious ‘pranks’ as well. Why don’t you give me your version before I talk to Wheeler?”
> 
> Hoffman perked up at the chance to air his grievances. “It’s all Wheeler’s fault! If he’d just stayed back on Earth where he belonged, none of this would have happened.” He slammed his fist down on the table, his face twisted with fury. “I don’t know how he found out I was in the Stargate program, but I know he followed me here on purpose. Mark my words, the only reason he came was just to destroy my work again.”
> 
> “You make it sound like he was out to get you.”
> 
> “That’s because he was! I had a good working relationship with everyone here until Wheeler showed up—”
> 
> //Lie,// Atlantis murmured. //The head of Marine Biology has several complaints about Dr. Hoffman that were submitted prior to Dr. Wheeler’s arrival. Hoffman has more complaints than Wheeler does from the period from just after Wheeler’s arrival to today. All complaints about Dr. Wheeler originate with Dr. Hoffman or involve him in the incident as well.//
> 
> “—Then it was just like what happened back in high school when Jerk-off Jerry and his family moved to town and he started at my school. He was always trying to show me up. He kept doing things that made me look bad in front of the teachers. He did the same thing on Atlantis. He even managed to get his quarters assigned right next to mine!”
> 
> Instead of face-palming at the realization that a childish rivalry had led to criminal acts, Tony hummed quietly and made a point of looking at zyr tablet. There wasn’t anything there about the two scientists’ pre-college years, but Tony could guess what must have happened.
> 
> “Your animosity escalated from dislike to similar ‘pranks’ back then, I see.”
> 
> “Yes! And it was his fault then, too!” Hoffman pounded his fist again. He was vibrating with fury. “If Wheeler hadn’t put bleach in all of my aquaria, I would have won the National Ocean Sciences Bowl!”
> 
> “But you lost, and you’ve hated him ever since.”
> 
> “Yes!” he leaned forward as if sharing a secret. “Wouldn’t you? I lost out on that scholarship, which meant I couldn’t go to Duke University. Then Wheeler followed me to college too. You don’t want to know what he did to my _pomacanthus_ _arcuatus_ during undergrad.”
> 
> “You got him back, though, just like you got him back this time when he sabotaged your experiment with those tommy fish,” Tony said, purposely mangling the name of the fish Hoffman had named after himself.
> 
> Hoffman sat back and glared. “ _Tomaticus undulatus_ , and you’re damned right I did!”
> 
> “Okay, _tomaticus undulatus,”_ Tony allowed. “The computer geeks are still trying to figure out if any of Wheeler’s data from that coral-ish reef thing is salvageable.”
> 
> “It won’t be.” Hoffman crossed his arms and smirked. “I’m almost as good with computers as I am with marine life. Too bad Wheeler is too stupid to keep backup copies the way I learned to after he destroyed my work when I was a teacher’s assistant my first year of grad school. He almost got me fired from that job!”
> 
> “What about the other scientists’ research on that server? If you’re so good, then what happened there?”
> 
> “I couldn’t get rid of his stuff without erasing the rest of it. But it was only Loreli Red Hair and Neves da Sousa anyway.” Hoffman made a face and leaned in, confiding, “It’s not like they were doing anything important. I looked at their work, and it’s stuff nobody cares about but them—kid stuff. Getting rid of that stuff was almost a public service.”
> 
> Atlantis commented darkly, //Dr. da Sousa has been taking self-defense lessons with Corporal Villalobos. Perhaps she should be permitted to express her feelings to Dr. Hoffman in person.//
> 
> Part of Tony would love to see that happen. As it was, zy had enough to charge Hoffman with assault on Dr. Wheeler, and zy knew Atlantis would document what she’d found so zy could charge him with criminal tampering and reckless endangerment, a separate count for every person whose water would have been affected by the lack of safety mechanism. Every one of them could have been severely burned if they’d been in the shower or even just washing their hands.

If it had ended there, that would have been bad enough for Hoffman. As it was, a nurse had let Wheeler talk his way out of the infirmary, despite the fact that Tony had specifically requested the man be held until zy could come get him zyrself so zy could interview him. Tony’s order had been reiterated by Doc Xander, so zy didn’t think it was the nurse’s prejudice but her naivety. Wheeler had told her he’d come right back, and she’d actually expected him to do it.

 

 

> //Tony, Dr. Wheeler is out of the infirmary,// Atlantis said suddenly, her voice concerned. //I did not notice him before, but he is nearly to your location.//
> 
> “Damn!”
> 
> Hoffman jumped when Tony cursed and abruptly headed for the door.
> 
> “Atlantis, no one goes in or out of this room until I say different!”
> 
> //As you wish, my Kysra.//
> 
> “Hey, where are you going? I’m not done!”
> 
> Tony could have laughed. Zy’d never had a criminal so upset that his confession-slash-interrogation was being interrupted.
> 
> “Get back here, space cop! Hey, you! Delt! You get back here!”
> 
> The door slid shut behind Tony just as Gerald Wheeler rounded the corner.
> 
> Unlike Hoffman, Wheeler had not been blessed with surfer good looks. He was 5’8” at most, on the scrawny side, with a head too small for his body. His nondescript brown hair was lank, and his large eyes set a little too far apart over a large, crooked nose. Added to that were large swaths of obviously new skin on his head, face, neck, and arms, courtesy of the SkinGun. The loose scrubs engulfed him, making him seem even more scrawny. The man immediately reminded him of Dobby the house elf, so Tony thought zy did well not to wince.
> 
> “Dr. Wheeler. I thought I told you to remain in the infirmary until I came to interview you,” zy barked out.
> 
> The scientist raised his chin and demanded, “I wanna talk to Hoffman.”
> 
> “I can see that. You understand why I can’t let you, right?”
> 
> “Because you’re protecting him, just like everyone else!” Dr. Wheeler shouted, chin trembling.
> 
> Tony countered calmly, “No, I’m not. Right now, I’m interrogating him…an interrogation you’re interrupting, by the way.”
> 
> “I don’t believe you!” Wheeler wailed. “That bastard has done everything he could to ruin my life and blame me for his failures since we were just kids, and people like you have let him get away with it!”
> 
> Wheeler started twitching agitatedly, and Tony thought he probably would have been pacing but was in enough pain that the activity would’ve hurt. Zy didn’t want to think about exactly where Wheeler probably had new skin under the scrubs. The man wasn’t acting threatening toward Tony, so zy didn’t want to restrain or arrest him. Putting any kind of restraints on him could damage the new skin on his wrists and arms.
> 
> “Dr. Wheeler, I want to talk to you and hear your version of events. There’s another office we could use to talk. Atlantis will keep Hoffman where he is.”
> 
> Wheeler shook his head, then winced and reached up to pull the scrubs away from his neck. “I’m not stupid, Investigator Dex. I know how this goes: you talk to us both, we both get a slap on the wrist, and life moves on…except I’ll shortly get the notice that I’m being sent to Earth.”
> 
> “I suppose it’s still possible, but I think we’re beyond slaps on the wrist, don’t you think? I’m certainly not going to let that be all that happens to Hoffman.”
> 
> “You can’t guarantee that!”
> 
> “Yes I can,” Tony retorted. “I’m the Chief Investigator in the city. Colonel Carter listens to my recommendations, as does Colonel Sheppard. More than that, though, is the fact that so does Dr. McKay. If _he_ says you stay, then you stay.”
> 
> “And if he says I go?” he challenged.
> 
> “Convince me you should stay, and I’ll help you convince him.”
> 
> Wheeler stared at Tony for several seconds. Then his shoulders slumped, and he nodded reluctantly.
> 
> “Fine. I’ll trust you. I probably shouldn’t, but I will.”
> 
> //There is a room down the corridor,// Atlantis said as she showed Tony what she meant.
> 
> Tony led Wheeler to the vacant office that had a small table and a few chairs. Tony had to shift some boxes to clear the table and two of the chairs, but that didn’t take long.
> 
> “Are you okay to sit, Wheeler?” At his nod, Tony asked, “Atlantis? Could we get a couple of waters?”
> 
> Atlantis beamed in the waters, making Dr. Wheeler startle, then hiss as he hit his arm on the edge of the table. Tony had to think that people weren’t going to believe Atlantis was alive until they saw her do something to prove it.
> 
> “Go ahead.” Tony gestured to the water bottle as zy took zyr own and cracked it open. “I know Major Lorne was thirsty all the time after his experience with the SkinGun. You probably are too.”
> 
> Wheeler flushed and stretched his hands toward Tony, palm-up.
> 
> “Uh, would you mind…?”
> 
> Oh. Right. Seeing that both hands were covered with new, incredibly fragile skin, Tony opened the water for the scientist, sliding it across the table to him and receiving a murmured thanks.
> 
> “Help me understand, Doctor,” Tony began, “because right now, I don’t get how a prank war escalated to this point.”
> 
> Wheeler’s head jerked up, and he stared at Tony with wide eyes, not helping his resemblance to a house elf.
> 
> “Prank war?” he demanded incredulously. “I don’t know what he told you, but there is no _prank war_ , and certainly not one with _him_!”
> 
> “Then what was it, exactly?”
> 
> “A ridiculous vendetta that bastard has had for me ever since I had the misfortune to move to the town where he lived when we were still stupid teenagers!” Dr. Wheeler made an indignant sound. “He thought he was the smartest person on Earth until I came along and happened to be just as good. He couldn’t take the competition, at least not from someone like me, so he got it in his head that he had to eliminate me.”
> 
> That rang true to Tony’s instincts, just based on zyr interactions with Hoffman, but zy wasn’t going to make any snap judgements.
> 
> Zy offered, “He seems to think that you’re the one out to get him.”
> 
> Wheeler snorted. “All I ever wanted was for him to leave me alone. I’m sure he didn’t tell you how he made my last two years of high school so miserable that I turned down a full ride to Duke—the premier school for marine biology—because Wheeler had spent senior year bragging that it was where he was going to go?”
> 
> “He did mention that you ended up at the same university for your undergrad work.”
> 
> “Yes, and I tried to transfer out as soon as I found out he was there, but I had already turned down the scholarship at Duke, so it had been given to someone else. I couldn’t afford to leave where I was because my other options had already handed out their scholarships and grants, too. You have no idea how many times I nearly changed my focus area just to get away from him.”
> 
> “That couldn’t have been an easy decision,” Tony said sympathetically. Whether or not zy believed Wheeler, the calm, apparently sympathetic approach was getting the scientist to talk. “Keep going and be tormented, or change your focus and limit your options further.”
> 
> Tony did know what zy was saying was true from personal experience. When zy’d had to change zyr major because of zyr injury, zy had lost all zyr scholarships, and finding new sources of help had been nearly impossible.
> 
> “Yes. Besides, I love what I do. I know I don’t look like it, but I’ve logged more underwater hours than just about anyone in my field.”
> 
> Wheeler’s eyes lit up, and his gaze seemed to lose focus as he watched something in his mind’s eye rather than what was in the room.
> 
> “There’s no substitute for studying my subjects in their natural habitat. There’s so much we still don’t know about the underwater fauna on Earth that I could’ve been happy studying there for decades. There’s so much complexity and beauty in the ocean, Investigator Dex, beauty most people have never seen!
> 
> “Then I got the opportunity to join the Stargate program, and entire new worlds were opened to me, literally! Now I’m living in the middle of an alien ocean in another galaxy, and I have the chance to study these all these new, amazing creatures and their habitats. My colleagues from Earth can’t even imagine Atlantis exists, but I’m living on her with the Satedan ocean out my bedroom window every day!”
> 
> Tony smiled slightly. “I can certainly see you’re enthusiastic about your subject.”
> 
> Wheeler flushed and ducked his head.
> 
> “Sorry, it’s just being here was a dream come true, but now…” his smile faded, and the sadness and anger returned, “with Hoffman here too, now it’s a nightmare.” Wheeler shook his head. “I don’t expect someone like you to understand.”
> 
> Tony raised an eyebrow. “Someone like me?”
> 
> Wheeler gave a bitter laugh. “Someone attractive, desirable, _pretty_. How many times have you used your looks to get what you want, huh? Can you even count them all?”
> 
> “Dr. Wheeler, I might be—” Tony made a face. “—pretty, but I’m a kysra, a delt. The advanced degree you’re rightly proud of, the one that opened the door to get you into the Stargate program wasn’t even an option for me or others of my gender.”
> 
> “Oh, right.” Wheeler blinked rapidly, adjusting to that information. “It’s just, you’re so confidant, and I’ve listened to people talk enough to know that you’re smart. Even Dr. McKay thinks so. I guess I forgot you’re a kysra.”
> 
> He tilted his head and studied Tony. “Maybe…maybe you can understand a little bit. It’s like this: I’m at least as smart as Tom is, but because I don’t look like him, and I don’t have his confidence, people take his side. I’m good with sea creatures from algae to zebra seahorses, but I’m not good with people.” Wheeler shrugged. “You probably think I’m just whining, but this has happened over and over again with him and others.”
> 
> “Always last for kickball, huh?” Tony smiled gently. “I understand what you’re saying. That was me in high school.”
> 
> “At least you grew out of it.” Wheeler shrugged again, then winced as his new skin pulled. “It’s why I like my work: the creatures under the water don’t care who I am, what I look like, or how much money I have.”
> 
> “It sounds like you really love it here.”
> 
> “I do. Like I said, getting an assignment like this was like a dream come true.”
> 
> “Then tell me what happened with Hoffman. Tell me how it got to the point that you’re seriously injured and not going to be able to put on diving gear for months.”

Wheeler’s eyes had gone wide at the realization that he wouldn’t be diving for a very long time, and Tony had thought he might actually cry. The biologist had pulled it together and proceeded to give an account as different from Hoffman’s as day from night. It had sounded like an unrelenting campaign of bullying that was more appropriate to an after-school special than something that happened to adults, but having met Hoffman, Tony could see it was possible.

Sure, Wheeler was probably overplaying the “poor me” card, but Tony still thought his account was the most accurate. It didn’t hurt that Wheeler readily admitted to the things he’d done and the data he’d ruined, though he told Tony that he’d kept a copy of the original and agreed to turn it over to zyr.

In the end, Tony didn’t think Wheeler had had any malicious intent beyond what was borne out of decades of frustration at being Hoffman’s scapegoat and punching bag whenever they happened to be in the same area. However, that didn’t relieve him of all responsibility. Wheeler was an adult, and he had known what he was doing was wrong. He hadn’t tried to get help from his department head, from the CSO, or the Chief Investigator before he took it upon himself to do things he knew were wrong if not illegal.

Tony would discuss it with Carter, but zyr inclination and preliminary judgement was to fine Wheeler and have him do some hours of community service, but zy wanted Hoffman officially charged, fined, and out of the city as soon as possible. Ideally, he’d be held responsible for his colleagues’ destroyed work once he was back on Earth.

Tony rubbed his eyes and yawned.

“What do you think, Atlantis?”

//I believe your judgement is sound. I have been through records you do not have access to due to your reluctance to invade others’ privacy, and what I have found confirms Dr. Wheeler’s account. I am disturbed that the obvious problem was not brought to you, Rodney, or the Hera. That so many knew what was happening but did nothing is inexcusable.//

She paused, then continued thoughtfully, //I cannot hold myself entirely blameless. I do not dedicate time to the observation of those I do not find interesting. Had something like this occurred to you or Rodney, I would have known instantly. Now that I have all the power I need, I must begin observing all within my structure.//

Tony didn’t quite know what to say to that. Zy really didn’t want to turn Atlantis into a _Minority Report_ situation where people didn’t have any privacy, but it was true that she could have helped them uncover and stop the problem between Hoffman and Wheeler as well as other situations that had arisen.

“Let’s talk to John, Wolfe, and Carter. I see what you’re saying, but I also want to make sure our people still have their privacy.”

//Acceptable.//

Tony yawned again before clicking open zyr email. Zy should have something from Jimmy: it was Monday on Earth, after all, and past time for the scheduled databurst to have been decoded and distributed.

“Hey.”

Tony looked up to see Ronon lounging against the doorway. He was smiling fondly at zyr in that way that made Tony helpless to do anything but smile back.

Ronon prowled closer until he could lean down and kiss zyr upturned lips.

“Hey, _caro_ ,” Tony murmured, one hand going to caress Ronon’s cheek. “How was…that planet with the name I can’t pronounce?”

Ronon chuckled and put his hand over zyrs on his cheek, turning his face into the caress and kissing the heel of zyr palm.

“Sheppard just calls it the gun planet.”

“Gun planet?”

“M16-357.”

“What? Oh, wait. I get it, M16 for the rifle and 357 for the handgun.”

Tony grinned and let Ronon turn zyr chair away from the desk until he could straddle zyr, sitting on zyr lap. Tony’s hands went to his hips, slipping beneath the soft, woven tunic Ronon had put on after his post-mission shower.

The shower was something he’d started doing after every mission instead of just after those where he got dirty or was exposed to something problematic. Tony thought he was paranoid, since Atlantis’ filters would remove anything dangerous, but Ronon was terrified of bringing back anything that could hurt Tony or the baby. If a shower eased Ronon’s mind, who was Tony to complain?

“Yeah. McKay says it wasn’t planned that way and rolls his eyes every time Sheppard says it, but I’ve noticed he can’t say N’lslasfa either.”

“Yet it just rolls off your tongue.”

Ronon gave zyr a shark’s smile and leaned in, nudging zyr nose with his own. “Well, you of all people know how talented my tongue is.”

Tony laughed, a thrill of arousal zinging through zyr. Zy looked up at Ronon through zyr lashes and licked zyr lips.

“Well, I think that’s _probably_ true, but my memory is a little foggy on the subject.”

“ _Probably?”_ Ronon leaned back, his eyebrows doing a little dance on his forehead. “M’kysra, I think there’s something wrong with your memory. Maybe we should have Doc X look at that during our appointment to see the kyta tomorrow.”

Tony hummed and tilted zyr head, pretending to think about it even as zy started unlacing Ronon’s tunic.

“That’s an idea, but don’t you think you should demonstrate your lingual talents right now, just so we know how long my memory lasts? I mean, it’s possible that by this time tomorrow I won’t remember enough to say your tongue _probably_ is talented.”

Ronon growled, a sound that made Tony’s entire body react instantly. Zyr instincts knew that growl intimately. Zyr instincts knew Tony was about to get fucked to within an inch of zyr life.

Ronon stood and pulled Tony to zyr feet with one arm, spinning zyr and pushing zyr chest flat to the top of zyr desk. Ronon’s fingers went to the front of Tony’s uniform trousers and made quick work of the fastenings before he yanked them down to zyr knees.

“Kick them off, m’kysra. _Now._ ”

Oh, fuck. Tony hadn’t realized zy would like being manhandled and ordered around, but zy went from interested to rock hard in less than a second.

Ronon splayed a hand over zyr stomach to make sure zy wasn’t lying on the kyta, then leaned over zyr, his chest pressing against zyr back, forcing zyr flat to the desk, and rumbled, “I think you should be _very_ careful what you ask for, meraska.”

Tony shuddered, zyr breath coming faster as warmth turned to hot desire. Zy decided email could wait and grasped the desk with the hand Ronon didn’t have twisted up behind zyr back.

“Shit, the computer. Can’t break it.”

“Then I guess you’d better hold still.”

“Oh, fuck.”

“Only after you beg for it.”

Tony groaned. It was going to be one of _those_ times. Zy gleefully cursed, anticipation making zyr heart pound. Fuck, but zy loved to pretend to hate it when Ronon made zyr beg.

Ronon was already running his hands over zyr, pushing up zyr shirt and licking the small of zyr back. Six months ago, Tony hadn’t known zyr back was sensitive. Now zy knew Ronon could make zyr sob with the right combination of kissing and licking that barely slipped down into the divide between zyr cheeks.

He was already proving he knew just what to do to get Tony worked up. Every time his tongue touched the top of zyr ass crack, Tony twitched and swallowed down a grunt. Ronon knelt behind zyr and trailed kitten licks all up and down zyr crack without parting zyr cheeks enough to touch zyr hole or the slick zyr could already feel.

Ronon shouldered between zyr legs, forcing them wide and forcing zyr up onto the balls of zyr feet. Then he ducked between and licked a single stripe from zyr balls up zyr perineum and all the way to zyr opening. Tony shuddered and bit down on zyr lip. Zy wasn’t going to give it up that easy.

Unable to see what was happening, Tony couldn’t anticipate any of Ronon’s moves. Zy’d feel his breath on zyr ass cheek, but then he’d suck a mark into the join of leg and ass. He’d run his free hand all over zyr thighs, then pull zyr hard cock down between zyr legs and suck the head into his hot mouth.

The first time he did that, Tony jerked and yelped, nearly pulling zyr hand from where Ronon still had it trapped against zyr lower back.

“Naughty kysra,” he growled. “You’re supposed to be lying still and trying to remember if this is familiar. Your poor memory wasn’t working.”

Tony whimpered. Zy was in so much trouble…and it was _awesome_.

By the time Ronon let go of zyr hand, zy had sweat through zyr t-shirt and had slick running down zyr inner thighs. Ronon had kissed, licked, touched, teased, and tormented every part of zyr except for where zy wanted it.

“Oh, fuck, please,” Tony finally broke and begged.

“Please what, m’kysra? Did you remember something?”

“Yes! Please, please do it!”

“What do you want, dahrym?” he purred even as he used both hands to press zyr cheeks apart and bare zyr opening. He pushed zyr knee up on the desk, opening zyr further and forcing zyr to balance on one foot.

Tony trembled and hung onto the desk with both hands.

“Put it in and lick me, dammit!”

Ronon flicked his tongue in a circle around zyr. “Now is that any way to talk to your husband?”

Tony sobbed out a breath and forced zyrself think.

“No, please, _caro_. Please touch me, lick me. I need it; I need you!”

Ronon chuckled, and Tony could feel the vibration of it. “Sweet meraska, you should have just said so.”

He opened his mouth over zyr and gave zyr exactly what zy had asked for.

Tony’s eyes closed, every nerve focused on Ronon’s tongue in zyr ass. He was teasing, licking inside, then pulling back to press gentle kisses all around. He’d press his mouth tight and give zyr quick little stabs with his tongue, and then he’d pull away to circle and flick his tongue barely inside. Ronon sealed his mouth over zyr and licked in deep, as though determined to clean up the mess Tony was making.

All Tony could do was listen to zyr own hitching little sobs and claw at the desk, trying to reach that point, that precipice that would let zyr fall into orgasm.

But that point never came, so neither did Tony.

Eventually, zy knew zy was begging, but zy wasn’t quite sure for what. Zy only knew how to say _yes_ , _please_ , and _more_. Tony keened and thought zy would die on the spot when Ronon backed away from zyr. As it was, zy nearly fell off the desk, zyr knees were so weak. Zy was shaking inside and out.

Zy heard the rustle of clothing but couldn’t quite figure out what it meant. Then Ronon’s hands were on zyr hips, holding zyr steady.

Without warning, he pressed his cock against zyr opening then pushed deep inside in a single, smooth stroke.

Tony’s breath caught, and zy came all over zyrself and zyr desk. It was such a relief, more relief than pleasure, that zy was left gasping and shaking. Zy lost control of zyr muscles and went limp, forcing Ronon to hold zyr hips up as he began to fuck zyr hard, pulling back almost all the way, then fucking in deep with every stroke.

After all the teasing, it was exactly what Tony wanted. Zy would’ve told him that if only zy could get zyr brain to work enough to form the words. Instead, zy lay boneless and let Ronon fuck zyr as he pleased. The force of it rocked zyr body against the desk. Zy didn’t care.

Ronon shifted his grip and pulled zyr hips higher. On the next thrust, Tony’s skin prickled, and zy made a soft, hurt little noise when Ronon’s cock brushed against zyr prostate. Zy came again on the next stroke, clenching tightly around Ronon’s cock and spilling again, that two-part orgasm that made zyr dizzy.

Zy blinked away the haze and realized Ronon still wasn’t done. If anything, his pace had increased. Tony felt the pleasure gathering yet again, and zy whined. Zy was already shaking, zyr limbs no longer under zyr own control.

“Once more, m’ksyra. One more, and I’ll come inside you.”

Tony gave another wordless whine, and Ronon grunted, panting too hard to laugh.

“That’s it, Tony. Can you feel it? You’re getting close.”

Tony’s muscles started to tighten in preparation, and zy knew there was no stopping it. All zy could do was surrender. Zy gasped for breath as even zyr fingers clamped down on the edge of the desk, zyr nails digging into the wood.

“I’m gonna come, gotta come,” Ronon warned.

He fucked zyr fast and hard, grunting as he neared the point of no return. Their bodies slapped together, the sound loud in the small room. Finally, his hips lost any rhythm, stuttering against Tony’s ass as orgasm shook him.

At the feel of the first spurt of hot come inside zyr, Tony’s body clenched that iota more that it took to tip zyr over the edge. Zy choked on zyr own breath and came so hard the darkness behind zyr closed eyelids turned to sparkling, bright lights. Zy didn’t lose consciousness, but it was a near thing.

Ronon withdrew and somehow got them both safely to the floor, a messy sprawl of uncoordinated limbs. Tony rolled zyr head to the side and stared blankly. Zy couldn’t think beyond trying to catch zyr breath.

When Ronon saw where zy was looking, he grunted out, “Sorry ‘bout the computer.”

If zy’d had the energy for it, Tony would have laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **11** Mair: (MAY-er) whirlwind mother or alpha [Verubriga M2R-391]


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the question of to divide New Divide or not to divide New Divide, the survey is closed, and the results are in:  
> 04.1% of you said you can't handle too much at once  
> 34.6% said you want it all, and bigger is better  
> 61.3% said size doesn't matter; it's all about how you use it
> 
> With over 95% of you preferring no division or not having a preference, I'll just keep going in this same AO3 document.  
> Thank you all for catering to my neurotic tendencies and participating in the survey!
> 
>  
> 
> Let it be noted for the record that Greeneyesblue was right about what you all would say. If only you knew how often she has to put up with questions like this! :-D

**Chapter 4**

_Keplerday, Einstein 37, First Year of the Returned  
(April 27, 2008)_

“So that’s eight more worlds willing to trade with us,” Carter said, reading through the information on her tablet, “seven for food products and one for the sienuash.”12

Tony couldn’t quite tell if she was pleased or disappointed. Her game-face had improved a lot over the past few months.

“That’s the mineral almost like naquadah?”

“Closer to naquadria than naquadah, Colonel, but it lacks the radioactive properties. I just wish they’d agreed to allow us to mine it instead of trading for such small amounts.”

Teyla frowned briefly. “Colonel Carter, I believe we should be pleased the Weshiena agreed to reestablish trade with us at all. We did not understand that they viewed the planet as a sacred caregiver, very nearly a parental entity. Now that we know, I can understand why they would see Dr. Weir’s rather… _strident_ demands to trade in sienuash as offensive.”

“We were demanding a piece of their god, essentially.” Carter looked back down at her list and sighed. “I just didn’t expect it because so few societies are religious in Pegasus, other than worshiping the Alterans or the Vedaeus, and we didn’t know about the Vedaeus until recently.”

Personally, Tony thought if Weir hadn’t picked up on the fact that these people worshiped the planet itself, then she wasn’t nearly the negotiator everyone seemed to think she was. It had taken AR-1 about a day to figure it out.

“Well, Weshiena and their religious beliefs aside, we’re doing better than I thought we would when we started the Apologies Tour,” John said from his usual seat beside Carter at the horseshoe-shaped table in the main conference room.

Colonel Carter and Rodney both shot a glare at him, but stopped as soon as they’d noticed the other. Tony had to wonder what the deal was with that. Zy didn’t care enough to find out right then, so zy, and everyone else, ignored the by-play. Tony was more annoyed that the Colonel had decided Ronon needed to be present to review this stuff when they were supposed to have the day off. Tony could admit it: zy was spoiled.

It was Keplerday, zyr and Ronon’s usual day off, plus they hadn’t been married long enough for their days off to be anything but very honeymoon-like. It wasn’t like they could hop on over to some exotic and stupidly expensive tropical island for a quick vacation like they could have if they’d been on Earth. Atlantis was as beautiful as a tropical island, but they were rather limited for recreation…not that they would have left their bed much less their apartment if they’d had any choice.

Instead, they were sitting in a boring meeting in the main conference room yet again. Once Carter had put it on the schedule only the night before, much to Tony’s displeasure, it was only supposed to be for her and the two Apologies Tour specialized teams: AR-1 (John, Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon) and AR-5 (Major Devin Jordan, Captain Joseph Fairmont of the UK Royal Marines, Airman First Class Daniel Seung, and Dr. Jamie McNamara).

Ronon had been pissed enough at losing his time with Tony that he’d dragged zyr along. He’d flat out told Carter that it was his day off. If she wanted him there, Tony was going to be there too. For zyr part, Tony didn’t see why both of them had to be punished, but arguing with Ronon about it had been useless.

Carter had been irritated until Tony had joked, “We were planning to cuddle on the sofa with a Disney movie. Ronon gets awfully cranky if he doesn’t get his cuddles and _101 Dalmatians_. He hasn’t given up trying to convince me Cruella de Vil is a Wraith.”

Her lips had twitched. “Well, I do appreciate your giving up part of your day off,” she’d said, “but please refrain from cuddling during the meeting.”

As it turned out, the entire thing seemed to be about the progress—or lack thereof—with the Pegasus worlds since they’d started the Apologies Tour. Tony was fairly certain John had just gone over the numbers with Carter the previous week, so the meeting had to be more for soothing Carter’s nerves than for any true sharing of information.

//This information was in _many_ reports,// Atlantis groused in Tony’s head, echoing zyr own thoughts. //Surely this could have waited until the two of you had worn yourselves out yet again. You could have slept through such pointless talk.//

Tony smothered a laugh, but Ronon wasn’t so lucky. He’d just taken a drink of spiced tea when Atlantis had spoken to them, and he ended up choking rather dramatically.

“You okay over there?” John asked, watching Tony scramble for the paper towels that had appeared on the table at the same time as zy pounded on Ronon’s back.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” zy said, eyeing zyr husband’s red face and watery eyes. “Think it just went down the wrong pipe, you know?”

Eyes watering, Ronon wheezed, “’m fine. Keep going.”

//Apologies, Ronon.//

“I’m fine,” he repeated more clearly.

Carter chose to take him at his word.

“So as I was saying, that’s a total of eleven worlds willing to trade with us, though only New Athos would openly call us allies, and all of the Athosians bar those who stayed behind to care for the crops and then begin harvest preparations are now on the city, so they aren’t exactly a separate people anymore.”

“I am optimistic that others will be more open to trade once they begin to hear of our new agreements with these worlds,” Teyla said serenely, her hands folded in her lap.

John looked like he’d bitten into a lemon. “I’m not so sure.”

“Why do you say that?” Carter asked, concerned but not shocked or upset.

Tony assumed John or someone must have said as much in their reports.

“Well, there’s something that keeps coming up, and I really didn’t expect it.” John looked to Rodney, who grimaced. “I know you weren’t here at the time, Colonel, but those of us who were remember when the _Daedalus_ happened upon the _Tria_ when we were first searching for possible locations to set up the gate bridge.”

//Arrogant fools!//

“That bitch, Helia,” Rodney seethed, unknowingly mirroring Atlantis’ opinion of the situation.

Ronon abruptly cleared his throat and set his tea back on the table, which made Tony think Atlantis had included him in the conversation again. Good. Zy shouldn’t be the only one getting a running commentary during these things.

Tony was a little surprised when no one chastised Rodney, not even Colonel Carter. Though if what zy’d read in the report was accurate, bitch and arrogant fools were two of the more apt descriptions of the Alteran captain and crew.

“Anyway, when we gave up the city without a fight, the Alterans didn’t even give the Athosians the option to stay on the planet much less the city. They packed them up and shipped them to New Athos.”

“I was aware of that from the reports. Are you saying the Athosians are causing problems for us?” Carter asked with a questioning glance at Teyla.

“My people understood you had little choice, but there were and still are some hard feelings about the matter. The crops had been planted on Lantea, and the Athosians suffered a very lean season because they were never able to harvest what they’d planted. I fear that were it not for Atlantis herself guaranteeing that the Athosians would never be set aside in such a manner again….” Teyla trailed off.

“I see. What do the Athosians think we should’ve done? I believe Helia locked us out.”

//As if I would have allowed that to stand if the Earthers had even tried to fight!// Atlantis snarled.

Tony and Ronon exchanged a look. Sometimes it seemed like Atlantis was willfully ignoring the fact that no one but the two of them could hear her unless she physically manifested her humanoid form.

“It isn’t that they thought we could’ve kicked Alteran ass, it’s that we didn’t even try,” Ronon explained, his expression dark with hate. “They said ‘get out,’ and nobody even tried to disagree.”

//It was the second time the Alterans stole Ronon’s home from him. For that alone he would hate them,// Atlantis murmured. //Rightly so.//

“So you’re telling me the Athosians are carrying a grudge about the situation?”

“No, not a grudge, as I understand the term. Halling and the other leaders are grateful that you returned and are pleased to have established trade with the city once more.” Teyla paused, her head tilting slightly as she continued more slowly, choosing her words with care. “I would say that there are…tensions among the Athosians who do not yet know of Kysra Tony, tensions that did not exist prior to the return of the Alterans. I believe many were outspoken about their feelings immediately after we were removed from the city and planet. It was a time when tempers were running hot.”

“They got the rest of the galaxy pissed off about it,” Ronon interpreted Teyla’s tactful explanation. “Now those people are afraid that if they have a treaty with us and somebody challenges us over it, we’ll just give them up like you did me, Teyla, and the Athosians.”

Tony barely contained a wince. From that perspective…. Yeah, it was a terrible betrayal.

“Surely they don’t still think that way. Didn’t we prove we weren’t giving up?” 

“On the contrary,” Major Jordan stated calmly. “They know that Colonel Sheppard returned _against_ the orders of our planet, so it is still a very valid concern to them.”

When Colonel Carter looked like she was going to object, Jordan raised one hand and said, “Wait, please, Colonel. I understand what you’re saying. Try to see it using all your tactical training, but from their point of view. If I may explain?”

Carter gave him a short nod, so he continued, “The only powers that have truly challenged Earth’s authority in Pegasus are the Wraith, the Genii, and the Alterans-slash-Asurans. Now, admittedly, the Wraith are in a league all their own as a species and a culture group, so let’s not count them just yet. Instead, let’s look at the Genii.”

“Now, just a minute,” John objected. “I think we pulled the teeth from that particular shark. Kolya and Cowen are gone, and Ladon Radim is a much better leader.”

Tony wondered if John knew sharks continuously grew new teeth.

“Better, yes, but how much?” Dr. Jamie McNamara asked, her cool, green gaze settling on Tony.

Tony wanted to groan when zy realized Jamie was setting zyr up to be the bearer of this particular bad news. Why had zy let Ronon talk zyr into coming along again?

After Jamie had extricated herself form the negotiations on the tanricu planet, they’d discussed Radim and the Genii with Sgt. Major Wolfe. That had been a little over a week ago. Tony much would’ve preferred this come from the Security Chief rather than zyr. Still, better to control the situation than let it control zyr.

Tony cleared zyr throat and leaned in, resting zyr forearms on the table. “As you all know, I’ve been reading through all the reports that come in with an eye to crime and justice.”

“Right, but how is that relevant here?”

With Colonel Carter’s question giving zyr tacit permission, Tony dived into the explanation.

“The thing Dr. McNamara and I have noted about the Genii is that they own, for lack of a better word, several planets. They have a small settlement on each, but it’s more a military outpost than anything else. Once the outpost has been established, they charge the locals the Pegasus equivalent of rent: trade coin, food, or other goods and services. The understanding is that the Genii military outpost and Genii ‘caretakers’ will prevent the locals from being taken advantage of by others.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“If it weren’t part of a larger scheme, maybe not, Colonel,” Tony said. “But here’s the thing: along with their ‘rent,’ the local population is required to turn over a certain percentage of their able-bodied young people for training. According to the intelligence reports from those who’ve talked to them, the locals think they’re getting their people back as soon as they’re trained when the reality is that the Genii are taking those young people to another, previously ‘secured’ world for training, but when that training and indoctrination is complete, they’re _Genii_ soldiers following _Genii_ orders, no matter where they started their lives.”

“At which point they’re taken to a new world and plunked down to start another ‘settlement’ among people they don’t know and don’t have any loyalty to, where the process starts all over again,” Colonel Carter finished for zyr, understanding dawning.  

“In the meantime, they’re still collecting the ‘rent’ from the first world,” Jamie added. “It’s a nice little protection racket mixed with an annexation strategy, and one I saw variations of when I was studying different cultures throughout history for my degree in anthropology. The Roman Empire did something similar, though they were more bloodthirsty and didn’t bother pretending their conquered territories had any choice in the matter.”

“How do the people not see what’s going on? Don’t they get suspicious when they never get their people back?” Carter asked.

Tony could only tell her as much as zy knew, which was mostly conjecture.

“I don’t have any documented accounts, but Dr. McNamara and I believe they must take back some people once in a while. Our guess is that they return those who wash out of training. The rest of the time, it would be easy to tell a community that their people had been culled while they were training, or they died while they were out defending a village that had called for help on some other planet. So far, they’re sticking to smaller worlds that are in less frequent communication with other planets, or they take on a small group of new planets at the same time so that the native peoples don’t know any better.”

“I didn’t see this when I read the reports,” John said, his brow furrowed. “How did you pick up on it?”

Tony shrugged one shoulder and leaned back in zyr chair. “I was undercover with a mafia family for almost a year; I learned how to look at situations like they do. Protection and extortion brought in money on a reliable schedule without much risk. Their method of annexing territory was different, but….” Zy shrugged again. “Then I discussed it with Dr. McNamara. She thought my theory was sound and explained a few things she had noted.”

“So the Genii are the mafia of Pegasus. Great. Just great,” John growled. “Are you sure this is still going on under Radim?”

“Your report from Weshiena said part of the reason they were willing to trade with us for the sienuash is they no longer trusted their old trading partners from Mrehzin. I know from another report dated less than three months ago that Mrehzin started policing their markets about that time, and all the guards were wearing uniforms that sound exactly like what the Genii wear. Also, the market had been moved from the locals’ preferred spot to some land that has a new, fortified structure overlooking it.”

“That’s not definitive proof,” Jamie pointed out, “but when you put it in context with the other worlds we’ve seen start out similarly and then appear to us to be suddenly under Genii control, it does make a good case for it.”

Major Jordan agreed, “Indeed it does, but there’s one thing that ultimately convinced me.”

“Oh?” Carter had one eyebrow raised.

“When Dr. McNamara came to me a few weeks ago and told me what she and Dex were thinking, she asked for permission to add something to our typical apologies speech for the locals,” Jordan explained. “It would be an experiment of a sort, with AR-1 as the control group and our team as the variable, but without any risk I could see. McNamara, want to explain?”

“Certainly,” the red-headed woman replied, straightening further in her chair.

Ph.D. or not, Jamie McNamara was a military brat who’d gone on to earn the rank of Senior Airman while completing her double Ph.D. in anthropology and linguistics. The military mindset showed in her mannerisms as much as it did in the grey-and-black uniform she wore.

“Once Chief Investigator Dex and I picked up on the Genii pattern, we decided to go back through old reports looking for data that would confirm or disprove our theories. Everything we found indicated we were on the right track, so I asked Major Jordan if we could include three specific things in our speeches to the local populations:  first, an apology for dismissing the value their established culture. Along with that went a statement about understanding that just because our society is militaristic, that doesn’t mean it’s the way every society should be. That seemed to soothe ruffled feathers most of the time.

“Second, we promised that no matter what, we would never ask them to trade their people—or any human lives, for that matter—for any goods or services we might offer. That alone seemed to have a lot of people willing to listen to us more than anything else.”

“Makes sense. Populations are limited now more than ever. Nobody wants to lose a single person, especially not the young and able-bodied,” Ronon said.

Teyla was nodding. “If the Genii are demanding able-bodied people in their ‘trades,’ the further we can separate ourselves from those expectations, the better.”

Carter prompted, “So what was the third thing?”

“The last thing we started doing was telling them we didn’t want to set up a trade relationship.”

“What?” John barked out, dropping his stylus and accidentally sending it skittering across the table. “But that’s the whole point of the Apologies tour!”

Tony could understand why John would be upset, but he needed to hear McNamara out. She wasn’t stupid by any stretch of the imagination, nor was Major Jordan.

Jamie glanced at Major Jordan. The older man nodded subtly.

“Yes, sir. We didn’t do this lightly. Everything that we learned about the Genii said that they like to use the phrases ‘trading partnership’ or ‘beneficial alliance’ when they started talking to the people in power on various planets. As Teyla said, I believe that the more we distance ourselves from them, the better it will be for us.”

“Colonels, Dr. McNamara explained this all to me, and I gave her one opportunity to test out her theory. When it worked, I gave her another shot. It kept working, and we kept getting trade agreements or, at the very least, an agreement to come back and discuss things further,” Jordan explained.

“How did you get trade agreements when you told them that wasn’t what you wanted?” John demanded.

“We said essentially the same thing, but we phrased it differently,” Jamie replied. “We told them that we just wanted to talk to them to see if we would be compatible enough to have a treaty of non-aggression between our two peoples.”

“That _does_ sound very non-threatening,” Teyla commented.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jamie agreed. “I thought that with how dictatorial the Genii are and with how unintentionally ham-handed we were the first time around, we needed to back off and let them think a trade agreement was their idea.”

“I still don’t see how that worked,” Rodney commented with a frown. “How did sitting around talking get you the agreement for the urtrak13 on Megarus?”

“That’s where Airman First Class Seung was able to help us.”

“Airman?” Carter prodded.

“Well, ma’am, my mom never met a garage sale, antique market, or craft fair she didn’t like, and she dragged me and my siblings along with her. One thing I learned was that if one merchant seems kind of put-off or snobby, just ask them where you can find something else. That tells them you have money to spend, and you’re not dead set on spending it with them.”

The young man grinned, displaying perfectly straight teeth that had probably cost his parents a fortune in orthodontia bills.

“I realize that doesn’t seem like it could help in our situation, but it does. Instead of asking the leader for a trade contract, we started taking along stuff on the list of approved trade items and saying things like, ‘oh, while we’re here, my aunt’s friend has been looking for this thing. Would you happen to know of a planet where they have a craftsperson who makes those?”

“I get it,” Carter said, starting to smile. “Every leader wants it to get out that their people are the best at whatever it is, so they inevitably take you to the person they know makes the thing you’re after.”

“Exactly, ma’am.”

“Of course, as soon as the craftspeople realize you have trade items or some of the trade coins, though trade coins are less popular, others come out with one or two things they ‘just happened to have lying around, but they thought would be perfect for you,’” Jordan said, his dark eyes glittering with amusement.

Jamie went on, “It’s the same principle as what you were saying, Colonel Carter. Once they know we have money and that we’ll be polite and fair with their people, the leaders are more eager to invite us to stay for the local version of dinner and a beer. They’re usually the ones to bring up trade agreements by mid-meal.”

“I see,” Teyla said with a smile. “Rather than telling them you will be honorable trade partners, you are able to show them by small actions, thereby proving your intentions.”

“That is the idea, Ms. Teyla,” Seung agreed. “We know we screwed up, so our words aren’t going to say as much as our actions. We had to do something to get our foot in the door so we could show them instead of just saying it.”

“Teyla, you were a leader among your people. Did you do something similar?”

Teyla gave her a wry smile. “No, Colonel Carter. By the time I became Leader, I had spent years traveling with my father, confirming all the agreements between the Athosians and the other worlds. In my first year as Leader, I traveled to each world with Halling at my side so that the people would be used to dealing with him, should I no longer be able to fulfill my duties. Halling now travels with at least one of the other leaders, doing the same.”

 _A nice way of saying, ‘just in case I was culled,’_ Tony thought dryly.

“Major, you said this worked most of the time, yet we only have a few finalized agreements.”

“You’re right, Colonel Sheppard. Out of the six worlds we’ve been to since we started doing it like this, we have firm agreements with three. Two more are willing to have us come back. The last one, well….” Jordan shook his head and snorted. “I’m afraid Win’nala would require intervention from Sateda’s Five themselves.” He turned and gave Tony a thoughtful look. “Or maybe just their Kysra.”

“No,” Ronon snarled instantly.

“Wait, I think I’ve heard of that one before,” Rodney said.

“What does Win’nala have that we wanted?” John asked, ignoring the way Ronon was growling at Tony and glaring daggers into Major Jordan.

“It’s supposed to have a structure with architecture similar to the Alteran structures we’ve seen. I don’t know about that, though I did see what looked like the very tops of a couple towers through the fog in the distance,” Jordan replied.

Jamie said, “What I found more immediately interesting is that the Win’nala produce cones of a soft but durable fiber that, when woven into cloth, is purported to be resistant to the Wraith’s feeding hand. They charge a huge sum for a small amount, but we’ve never been able to get that far with them. Ma’am, Sir, I think it’s worth investigating. If we could make undershirts for the teams who go out, it might protect them a few seconds longer from an attacking Wraith.”

“They know to just rip off our tac vests now, so having another layer beneath that was resistant to their feeding hands could mean the difference between life and death,” John said grimly. “We need to keep trying with this planet. We should at least get a sample of the stuff, there or at one of the planetary markets, I don’t care which, then have it woven into a cloth we can test.”

“If you can get the raw material, there are weavers among the Athosians who could weave it for us,” Teyla added.

Carter was already nodding. “I agree. Where are we with them, specifically?”

“We attempted to talk to them, but they took one look at our uniforms and chased us through the gate with these flamethrower-looking things. Like I said, they’re going to need a hell of an inducement just to speak to us. I stand by that assessment, even if Ronon keeps trying to gut me with the power of his eyes alone,” Major Jordan said sardonically.

Tony snorted, making Ronon transfer his glare to zyr. Zy just patted his thigh and smiled sweetly. “You know I’d never go without your agreement, _amore mio_.”

Only partially appeased, Ronon took Tony’s hand and laced their fingers together, giving Jordan one last dark look and making him smirk.

Tony sighed quietly. Zy had no doubt Ronon would be doing his best to schedule Major Jordan for some extra hand-to-hand training with him, but Jordan didn’t look worried about it. Then again, there was talk that Jordan had taken down Staff Sergeant Wilkins the other day, so he’d probably end up bruised but not broken.

“So other than Win’nala, you have either firm agreements or invitations to return to every planet you’ve been to.”

“Yes, sir,” Jordan replied. “I think Dr. McNamara is on the money with this, and I think she and Chief Investigator Dex are right about the Genii. From what we can tell, they’re running ‘business as usual,’ even under the new regime.”

“Tony, how sure are you about this?” John glanced at Jordan. “Not that I don’t believe you, Major. I was just really hoping Ladon Radim was a different kind of fish than Cowan.”

“I’m certain it’s a protection racket or extortion scheme. Is it still happening? I think the evidence supports that theory, but I’m willing to be wrong.” With a glance at Jaime, Tony offered, “Dr. McNamara and I could put together a list of things to watch for and questions to ask if and when you get the opportunity to have a civil conversation with the locals. Right or wrong, more data is better.”

“Do it,” Sheppard ordered. “I want to know if we have somebody out there trying to conquer the galaxy, one world at a time. Never was a fan of the Roman Empire.”

“Tony has a program zy’s been using to run simulations, and the takeover almost always works,” Ronon told them proudly.

That got a response from nearly everyone in the room, and Tony suppressed wince.

“Now wait just a damn minute!” Rodney snapped. “That’s why you wanted _Kings and Clans_ on your computer, isn’t it? You’re playing that stupid game using the Genii tactics!”

Tony and Ronon both snorted, which made Rodney glare furiously.

“You’re HItom, aren’t you? It’s not hit-something-or-other; it’s Hawaii Tom, as in Tom Selleck, Magnum PI!” He stabbed his finger at them, and Tony had the feeling that if they weren’t sitting across the table from each other, zy would be in danger of more than just air stabbing. “You jerk! You have most of my people playing that stupid game now. I think Zelenka was cursing your name the other day, but it was half in Czech, so I couldn’t tell for sure.”

“Wait, _you’re_ HItom? You take a third of my crops every harvest! I _still_ owe you that specialty tree from the orchard.” John said in outrage.

Spine stiff, Carter scowled at zyr. “You’re using your work computer to play a game?”

“Uh, yes?” Tony admitted reluctantly. It had seemed like a great idea at the time. Maybe zy should have cleared it with someone first.

“You know that’s taking up space on our servers; space that could be used for scientific research. And from the sound of it, you have most of the city addicted to playing too.”

Tony stayed quiet and ignored Rodney’s smug look. Zy tried to look repentant but didn’t think it was working too well.

Carter leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, her expression as grim as zy had ever seen it.

“You realize I’m going to have to reprimand you,” she said. She let zyr sweat it out in silence until she slowly began to smirk. “I’m not going to pay you _any_ pears from my orchards for the next five harvests, and you can completely forget about the ‘donation’ of my mid-level preserve-maker entirely!”

It wasn’t until Rodney squawked indignantly and Ronon snorted and started shaking his head that her words actually penetrated Tony’s brain. Carter? Colonel Carter was playing the game? Not only that, she’d just implied zy had permission to keep playing!

Expression serious but zyr eyes glittering with mirth, Tony said, “I think that’s more than fair, Colonel.”

Carter’s smirk softened to a genuine smile. “In all seriousness, you’ve been using this game to map out Genii actions?”

Tony nodded. “It’s been helpful for gauging real human reactions to the various demands I know the Genii make of the worlds they acquire. There’s also a spy network, much like what the Genii have, so I know which people are being plagued by bandits and raiders—”

“Wolfe,” Ronon muttered between fake coughs.

“—and ripe for the initial deal that will allow me to get a foothold on their territory.” Tony shifted so zy could squeeze zyr husband’s thigh in warning. “What I need to do now is find another player so I can play out various scenarios where that person interferes with my empire-building.”

“This would be something to simulate what would happen if we start interfering with the Genii?”

“Right. I could have Atlantis play it, but she has never been human and doesn’t react quite the same way. She’d have an algorithm to calculate income versus acceptable losses or something. That wouldn’t help.”

“Well, nobody invited me yet!” Seung looked at Fairmont. “What’daya think, Cap’n Tea-n-Crumpets?”

The British Captain raised one eyebrow and gave a faux haughty sniff. “I think I shall have to participate simply to keep you on-task. Heaven only knows you’d end up attempting to start your _own_ empire. I’m given to understand you Colonists have that tendency if you’re not closely monitored.”

Jamie snickered, and Major Jordan sighed, rolling his eyes at what was apparently common by-play. Tony was glad to see the quiet young Captain had a sense of humor. Jamie had told zyr she liked her team, but zy had never seen them interact before.

“Not to be too mercenary about it, but could the Genii thing actually help us regain some of the ground we’ve lost with Pegasus worlds?” Jordan asked. “I don’t mean that we should come right out and say that we’re anti-Genii takeover, but Dr. McNamara’s strategy has been working pretty well.”

Carter looked at John and raised an eyebrow.

John shrugged one shoulder. “I think it’s worth a try. I’d like to have a meeting with our two teams to go over the reports from your planets—”

John and Carter suddenly froze, then bolted from their chairs.

“The gate is activating, and Chuck can’t stop it!” John yelled on his way out the door.

Of course, that had the rest of them up and running out the door, Tony included.

The man at the dialing console exclaimed to the two Colonels, “I don’t know! It just started dialing, but these aren’t planets we’ve explored yet.”

“Well, make it stop!” John ordered. “McKay!”

“Move!” Rodney shoved the technician out of the way and started working furiously.

“Atlantis!” Tony whisper-shouted. “What’s happening?”

//I am seeking.//

“So it is you?”

//Yes.//

Tony wanted to groan.

“Right, well, you’re freaking everyone out. Could you put in an appearance and let them know it’s you and not some Wraith attack?”

Atlantis obligingly appeared at the top of the main staircase. “Rodney, please cease attempting to interfere. This is my doing, not an attack or malfunction.”

_“What?!”_

Tony knew zy wasn’t the only one who winced away from the volume of the combined exclamations from most of the people in ops. Zy tried to subtly move behind Ronon, not wanting focus to shift to zyr, as it tended to do with Atlantis showed up.

As it happened, it wasn’t necessary. Everyone was far more distracted by the way Rodney went barreling through the doorway with John close behind, out to where Atlantis was standing.

John pulled Rodney back when he’d just taken a deep breath to start yelling at Atlantis.

“Hey, Atlantis. What’cha doin’?” he asked casually.

“Greetings, Colonel Sheppard. I am seeking my harvesters on the empty worlds and those nearest the asteroid belts containing the elements I require to continue restoring my physical structure. When I open the gate, I am assessing the condition of, then sending commands to each harvester to begin its work.”

“I see.”

“Atlantis, I thought you were going to wait until you had your ZPMs to start major demolition and rebuilding,” Colonel Carter said, stepping up beside John.

“Yes. I installed them and completed the necessary diagnostics while you were in your meeting,” she said, studying Carter as if she thought the Colonel were a little bit slow. “Now I am seeking additional materials, as I said.”

Rodney’s face lit up. “You mean you’ve finished them? We—you—whatever! The city is at full power?”

“Yes, of course. I had no wish to begin major projects if I could not protect them from damage if attacked.”

“Of course,” Carter repeated faintly, eyes wide. “So we would have the energy to run the shield and the cloak simultaneously now?”

The gate flared again, connecting to a planet. Atlantis hummed. “It seems this planet is no longer uninhabited. That is vexing but not entirely unexpected.” The gate closed abruptly. “To answer your question, Colonel, yes. If necessary, I could maintain the cloak and shield for upwards of six thousand years. If I had to, I could submerge myself and maintain the shield and all life support functions without negatively impacting the current population for at least three thousand years.”

“Well, that’s good news, right?”

“Of course it is, Sheppard! We’re as safe as it’s possible to be in Pegasus!” Rodney beamed at Atlantis. “You’re amazing. I know I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating.”

“Thank you, Rodney.”

Tony was surprised to see Atlantis smile fondly at the scientist as the gate connected yet again.

“Ah, this is the final destination that interests me presently. It is what you call a space gate in an asteroid belt. I shall send three harvesters, since I have not harvested from it previously. I expect it to be rich with the elements I require.”

She turned toward the gate, and everyone turned with her. They were all eager to see what a harvester was.

As it turned out, it was a massive ball of a machine—one that was so immense Tony didn’t know how it would fit through the gate. Of course, zy also didn’t see how it could possibly harvest anything, but the shape made more sense than the boxy little puddle jumpers did: a sphere was the strongest geometric structure…or so Tony had learned in freshman geometry class what felt like eons ago. Maybe that wasn’t true anymore.

The harvester floated down from the same opening the puddle jumpers normally used in the ceiling of the main hall. Once in place, the machine turned 45° then slipped through the open gate with what must have been mere inches to spare all the way around. The second, then third harvesters descended and left through the gate equally smoothly. Once the third was all the way through, the gate closed, and more than one person breathed a sigh of relief.

Atlantis turned back to Rodney.

“I have sealed the room containing my Zed-PMs, but I will show you if you would like.”

“Yes! Absolutely!”

“Very well.” Atlantis reached out and gripped Rodney’s upper arm. They both disappeared with a flash.

“I guess this means the rest of our meeting is postponed.”

Colonel Carter side-eyed John, then shook her head in amusement. Ronon started prodding Tony toward the transporter before they could change their minds.

*~*~*~*

“Are you still considering my offer, Rodney?”

Rodney forced himself to drag his eyes from the three ZedPMs and the insane amount of data he was receiving on his computer in order to look up at Atlantis. She looked a little like a ZedPM herself, in her dress and coordinating head wrap made of gold, orange, and red cloth.

“I am, but it’s not something I can just decide overnight, you know? You want to change my brain and my DNA.”

“Yes.” She moved closer and rested her hand on his shoulder. “I understand why you are reluctant, though I continue to hope I can persuade you.”

Rodney huffed. “I have to admit it would have been nice to have known what was going on before I freaked out upstairs.”

“Now that people know of my existence, I assumed they would understand the gate was dialing at my direction.”

It was funny that she looked so baffled, though Rodney wouldn’t ever say so. Even he wasn’t that socially inept.

“Maybe we should have, but we’ve only known you exist since early Einstein. I guess that’s about one Satedan month, though it doesn’t feel that long. Also, we’ve had a lot of things go horribly wrong before, so we’re always going to assume the worst.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” She studied him intently. “You realize you could have asked me.”

Rodney flushed. “It—it actually didn’t occur to me.”

She sighed. “I imagined not. I would have answered if you had called out to me, you know.”

“Even though I can’t Vulcan mind-meld with you?”

“Of course. I would have answered if any of you had called me. It was only when Tony asked if I was involved and then requested that I reveal I was the one causing the gate to open and close so rapidly that it occurred to me that you would not understand what I was doing.”

“Oh. I guess I didn’t realize you’d be that open to taking a physical form whenever somebody asked you.”

“It can be inconvenient,” she agreed but pointed out. “At the moment, it is the only way I can discuss things with anyone other than Tony and Ronon.”

“You didn’t have to fix Ronon?”

“No. He is Satedan and descended from the original Kysra. His physiology was made to receive communication from the Vedaeus.”

“That’s still weird for me, trying to understand that you used to be a goddess.”

“Never a goddess, not like you mean. Nor am I that being any longer,” she admitted quietly. “In all honesty, I prefer who I am now.”

“McKay! Where are you?”

At the panicked shout through his comm, Rodney nearly fell off the awesome rolling stool Atlantis had made for him. He huffed and reached up, touching it to open the link to Zelenka.

“I’m in the ZedPM room, of course. Aren’t you getting the information I’m sending to you? Get it together!”

“Am I—? What are you—? How?!”

Zelenka descended into Czech that Rodney was certain was more insults and profanity than anything else.

“Atlantis finished the ZedPMs, so stop talking and get to work. Chop chop!”

There was another string of irate Czech, then, “I’ll chop _you_!” and Zelenka disconnected.

Atlantis was snickering, which almost blew Rodney’s mind. She seemed too serene and higher-being-like for such a human emotion.

“You and Radek remind me of siblings.”

“No, my sister actually hates me. Radek just pretends,” Rodney said distractedly as he noticed something. “Hey, would you look at this a second? Why aren’t these systems coming online over here?”

“Those areas have not yet been cleared. I must ensure they are safe before allowing any changes in power flow.”

Oh. That made sense.

Rodney continued moving between his computer and the ZedPM station itself, trying to understand and integrate everything he was seeing. It was exciting yet weirdly comfortable having Atlantis there with him. He’d thought she would get bored and leave, but she never did. He wondered if that was what it would be like if he agreed to let her change him.

Rodney’s eyes kept being drawn to that dark section Atlantis was essentially quarantining.

“Do you think there are more of those devices holding deadly creatures, or maybe something like that one that makes you hallucinate before your brain explodes?” His fingers paused on the keyboard. “Well, not _you-_ you, but humans. Us.”

“I do not know, Rodney,” Atlantis replied. “There are several experimental laboratories, any one of which could hold experiments such as those you have encountered. I have barred those buildings from receiving any additional power, and they have shields surrounding them that will hold within that which already exists as well as preventing anything outside from gaining access. Not even insects or the fisher birds are allowed through the shields.”

“That’s…huh. That’s really smart. Just because something hasn’t escaped, or something hasn’t gotten in doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.”

“Yes. I meant it when I said I would do all I reasonably could to prevent loss of life.”

Rodney went back to his readings for several seconds.

“I don’t normally like to categorize things by good and evil, but the Alterans were evil, weren’t they?”

Atlantis made a humming sound, thinking about it.

“It would be easy to assign such a word to them, but not all were. There were those who fought against the experiments that created their worst atrocities. There were even a few who protested the experimentation on my kysra.”

“Sure, but they weren’t ever the ones in power, were they?”

“No, they were not. Power is such a dangerous tool, Rodney. It is easy to forget that it is merely a tool, not an end in itself.”

Yeah, he could see that. He’d read the report where Do-gooder-Daniel Jackson was in that dream state where he made himself into a tyrant and killed his own best friend. As much as Rodney hated to admit it, he could see that if power could corrupt someone like Jackson, then it could happen to pretty much anybody.

“Is it okay if I ask why the Alterans were doing that, taking and hurting your kysra in the first place?”

Atlantis considered it, then slowly replied, “Yes. Perhaps you will share the tale with the others? It is painful to discuss, and I would request you not to ask Ronon about it at all. I would not cause him further grief over what happened to his first home.”

Rodney tried to backtrack. “Oh, well, I mean, if it hurts you to talk about it, you don’t have to.” Despite what people thought of him, he didn’t intentionally hurt people most of the time.

“It is an old hurt that will never fade, for part of the fault for what happened lies with me.”

“Wait, what?”

“You know the tale of the creation of Kysra.”

“Yeah, I was there when Tony went in to that trance.”

“Thousands of years after that, the Alterans came to Sateda, and the Satedans welcomed them. By then, the world was beautiful, the people much changed from the days of the first Kysra. Though they had not learned how to travel between the stars, they were a largely peaceful, technologically advanced society.

“They were advanced enough that they believed the Alterans when they said they wished to share their knowledge with Sateda. It was possibly even true at first, for the Satedans did work with the Alterans on refining the stargates. All was well for a time, but then the Alterans gained the trust of those with whom they worked, and they learned of the greatest secret of Sateda: the kysra.

“As young as the Satedan culture was, they were equally naïve. Had they known of the problems within the Alteran race, they never would have mentioned the kysra much less allowed the Alterans on their planet.”

“Why? I wouldn’t think the kysra would’ve interested the Alterans. I thought they were all about increasing technology and knowledge.” Rodney couldn’t understand why the Alterans would’ve been interested in the kysra at all.

“Ah, but they were. You see, the Alterans were a dying race, even then. The plague you have heard of in the Milky Way was one designed by the Alterans themselves in their attempts to make themselves smarter, stronger, better. They were forced to take those who had not been infected and flee to the Pegasus galaxy, but they did not learn. They continued with their genetic experiments until they had altered themselves so much that they could no longer carry their own children, and the genetic defects caused by their meddling grew more profound in every generation.”

“I still don’t get why the kysra were such a big deal. Why did they want them? Were they trying to change themselves into kysra?”

“Nothing so benign, Rodney,” she said, sounding tired. “No, they wished to learn how to use the kysra as living incubators.”

“Wha—? Oh, no! That’s—that’s just _vile_.”

“It is, yet they started their first experiments the moment they were able to steal a kysra—someone from one of the smaller communities.”

“Didn’t the Satedans realize what had happened?”

“They noticed when the kysra disappeared, and they worried for zyr, but in their naïveté, it didn’t occur to the Satedans that zy had been kidnapped. Such a thing was so unthinkable among the Satedans that it wouldn’t occur to them until more kysra began to disappear. When they did realize, the entire planet rose up in fury.

“Of course, the Alterans denied any knowledge of the missing kysra, but the Satedan government suspected and began to deny Alterans any access to the planet.”

Atlantis closed her eyes, her whole body reflecting the intensity of her grief.

“That was when I should have intervened. I could have stopped the devastation that followed, but my pride and my fear of being Separate kept me from taking a stand against the others.”

“They didn’t want to help?”

“No. We were arrogant. We believed the Satedans should have been able to anticipate the lies of the Alterans. They should have protected the kysra at all costs.”

“There wasn’t any way they could have known!” Rodney protested.

“I am aware of that, dear one. I know that now. In that long ago time and place, I allowed myself to be persuaded against my better judgement, and thus I watched as hundreds, perhaps thousands of kysra were taken and tortured to death in the guise of scientific experimentation.

“You see, the Satedans and the Alterans were not genetically compatible. Many hundreds of kysra died as the Alterans tried to force kysra to give birth to full Alterans, then to hybrids.”

“Like trying to force a human to carry a chimpanzee to term,” Rodney murmured, feeling like he was going to throw up.

“Just so. Even then, they had to alter the kysra so that their bodies would be unable to prevent or reject fertilization.”

“Oh gods. That’s why kysra on Earth today all die if the baby is harmed.”

“Yes. The kysra on Earth are the many-times descendants of the hybrid kysra-Alteran offspring.”

Rodney thought Earth had inherited more than the genetics of its ancestors; it had inherited their prejudice. If the Alterans had thought of kysra as nothing more than breeding stock, was it any wonder that the same attitude survived the centuries to present-day Earth?

“But…but if they are, then why don’t they all remember? Why don’t they all have an Interim like Tony had?”

“More genetic alteration,” Atlantis replied gently. “We wrote the Interim into the very genetic code of our Kysra. All who descend from zyr should have the memories. If the memories do not come forward, it is because they have been genetically suppressed.”

Rodney frowned. That didn’t quite make sense.

“Tony did remember though, and that was before you fixed zyr DNA. Was it just coming here that changed zyr?”

Atlantis’ lips twitched. “Perhaps, but I think that it had more to do with zyr exposure to purely Satedan genetic material.”

“What? Exposure to…. Oh. _Oh._ Right. Plus zy was talking to you too. Didn’t you have to do something to zyr brain? I think I remember Tony saying something about that.”

“Yes, I did have to make repairs in Tony’s brain. I unwisely assumed that zyr kysra heritage would make zyr physically capable of receiving telepathic communication, but the Alteran and Earth genetics affected that as well.”

“So what happens if other Earther kysra start coming here?”

“I have already discussed it with the healer, Xander. We both believe it would be better to take the kysra into the infirmary so they can be monitored. I will send them to sleep and undo the genetic damage so they will be Satedan kysra once again. I will not make the mistakes I made with Tony. Zy has been very helpful in allowing me to study zyr genetic coding to see what I should have done before I spoke to zyr the first time and injured zyr.”

“I suppose it’s better to do it that way than to wait and let them get hurt if their Interim happens unexpectedly.”

“Precisely what Xander and I thought as well.”

Rodney stared blankly at his computer screen and realized that he had kysra in his family. If Atlantis changed him, it was probable that he’d have an Interim as well. He’d be Satedan in truth. He’d be Tony’s genetic family, no matter how distant, as well as zyr chosen brother.

His heart began to race as he considered the decision he’d known he’d make from the very first time Atlantis had offered it.

“I—I think I want you to change me. I’m just afraid of what Earth will do when they find out.”

“They need not find out, if you do not wish it. I realize it cannot be soon, as you humans understand the word. When you are ready, request two days off. I can alter you in less than a day, but I would like to be able to observe you the next day to make certain you are well. Simply tell me when you are ready.”

Rodney nodded, allowing himself a slight smile.

“Yeah, I’ll do that. I want…. I know I’m not a kysra, but there are kysra in my family. It feels like, as ugly as it is, this is my heritage too.”

“It is,” Atlantis said firmly. “You were meant to be Satedan. It is only right that you claim what _always_ should have been yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **12** sienuash: (SEEN-oo-ash) mineral that can be mined, much like naquadah and naquadria. The happy medium somewhere between the two: it's more powerful than naquadah but less powerful than naquadria. It's not radioactive the way naquadria is either, so it can be used without such extensive shielding [Weshiena M9A-892]  
>  **13** urtrak: (UR-trak) cucumber-like vegetable that actually looks and tastes like a cucumber [Megarus M8R-020]


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Noetherday, YangHui 1, First Year of the Returned  
(May 1, 2008)_

Logan’s door chimed, alerting him to someone outside.

“Come,” he barked out, his irritation from the day coming through more than he’d have liked.

When the door slid open, he looked up from his computer and huffed a laugh. “You look more pissed than you did the day you came in here declaring your intent to commit homicide. Spouse-icide, maybe? Is there a word for that?”

Logan rolled his chair back slightly, laced his fingers and stretched his arms out over his head, trying to relieve the ache in his back, right between his shoulder blades.

Tony snorted and rolled zyr eyes. “Mariticide, if you’re killing your husband. Killing a wife is uxoricide.”

“Why am I not surprised you know that off the top of your head?”

“Because you know I’m awesome at Trivial Pursuit.” Tony slid into zyr usual chair, closed zyr eyes and cracked zyr neck.

Logan flinched. “That is a disgusting habit, Dex. You’re going to get arthritis in your neck if you keep that up.”

He hated it when people popped their joints. Knuckles, backs, or necks: it all made his skin crawl, and he happened to know Ronon felt the same way. They were working on Tony, trying to get zyr to quit the habit.

“That’s if I don’t get it from dealing with all the pain-in-the-neck people around here first.”

“Not Ronon this time, I take it.”

Logan rose and went to the nifty little Pegasus-style mini-fridge that had appeared the other day. He had to admit he enjoyed being one of Atlantis’ favorites. He snagged two of the fruit drinks—ones that were obviously not from Earth—that had appeared the day the fridge had and handed one to Tony.

“No, Ronon and I are good. I told him what you said the other day, and it helped us both, I think.”

“Good.” He twisted open the bottle and took a deep drink. “So who’s giving you the biggest pain?”

“Too many people, frankly, and all of them civilians,” Tony said, holding the cold bottle to zyr temple. “They’re stressed about the _Daedalus_ not showing up, and it’s been long enough that everybody knows there’s a problem the Colonels aren’t talking about. It’s making them tense, which makes them snap at each other. That leads to fights, petty theft, honest-to-Pete slapping wars between a couple of botanists, and messy breakups that mean I have to supervise them while one person gets his or her things out of the other’s quarters.”

Tony slouched in zyr chair and finally opened the juice. “Swear to the Vedaeus, Wolfe. I feel like an RA in a college dorm instead of a cop.”

Logan sighed and put his feet up on his desk, something he’d never do in front of anybody but Tony.

“I’d laugh at you if I didn’t feel the same way, except instead of slapping, I’ve had more fistfights in the last two weeks than I’ve seen since I’ve been here. It’s just like you said: people are tense and at each other’s throats over the smallest things. Before you came in, I was sitting here thinking I’m going to have to talk to Colonel Carter about making an announcement. Any kind of announcement about the _Daedalus_ is going to be better than leaving people in the dark like this.”

“That’s exactly why I came to talk to you: I was thinking the same thing about talking to her and Colonel Sheppard. People, especially people like ours, who love their numbers, facts, and action plans, need something they can pin down rather than this nebulous fear they’ve got right now.”

“Don’t I know it,” he agreed vehemently. “Most of the time, military people and scientists—and military people who are also scientists—do better with more information.”

Tony raised zyr bottle in a mock cheers, which Logan reciprocated.

The problem with smart people was they were _smart_ , and they could come up with scenarios the average population never would. Give smart people more information, and they’d have charts and graphs and 50-slide PowerPoint presentations on how to solve the problem. Let them sit and stew in silence, and they’d kill everybody on accident while trying to prevent some impossible scenario.

With the military, they were trained to fight their way out of bad situations. However, if they didn’t know what the situation was, then they’d start to fight each other out of frustration. Give them sufficient information about a problem, and they’d dig in, make the problem the enemy, and figure out how to solve it or endure it. That was especially true with the old-timers in the city. After what they’d seen, the only thing that really scared those folks was incorrect or insufficient information.

Logan pointed out, “It doesn’t help that we’ve had so many meals supplemented with Pegasus foods that even the least intelligent, most inexperienced E-1 has figured out we’re looking at a food shortage and rationing in the very near future.”

“I know, but I was trying not to say anything.” Tony let zyr head fall back on the chair and groaned. “I feel guilty for having food that I’m not sharing, but there’s no way in hell Ronon would let me if I suggested it. If I had enough that it would make much of a dent overall, I’d argue with him about it. I don’t really have that much, especially stuff with nutritional value, so I’m just trying to make sure I always eat my food and send stuff with Ronon for the team when they go out so that I’m not taking what others should be eating, plus I feel like I’m still contributing.”

“I’d veto the sharing idea. If we hit the rationing point, you and I are probably low on the list to be rationed anyway because we’re going to have our hands full with more than minor fights, especially if people panic. Besides, no matter what happens, you’re eating for two. Don’t look at me like that! I know it’s a dumb saying, but you do need additional calories and nutrients to feed yourself and the growing kyta. Doing yourself or your kyta unnecessary harm because you’re worried about other people is stupid.”

“I swear, I’m going to have Atlantis take that damned book off the server,” Tony griped.

Logan just smirked. He knew better than to laugh at zyr. “I hate to tell you, but it wouldn’t do you any good. The doc would just put it back up again. Even if he didn’t, enough people have downloaded it that they’d just share it with anyone who wanted it. Doc mentioned to me in passing that he’s been surprised by the number of people curious about babies and pregnancy in general. He said he finally put all the parenting books on the general-access server.”

Seeing Tony’s expression, Logan added, “I haven’t read that book. I’m telling you what I remember from experience. I’d be able to annoy you even without the book.”

Tony huffed and drank zyr juice. “Why are we friends again?”

“Well….” Logan leaned his head back and pretended to think about it. He looked at Tony and said, “Because despite my irresistibly sexy, _Wolfe_ -ish grin, you went and married Ronon. Since he can kick my ass three out of five, I decided I could settle for friends.”

That startled a laugh out of Tony, and zy finally relaxed.

“You just wait, Mr. Sexy, wolfish grin. I’ll tell Ronon you wanted to get in my pants.”

“Nah, none of your pants would fit me, especially those booty-call jeans you were bitching about the other week. You’re too skinny—well, you used to be anyway,” he teased.

Tony pouted, fat bottom lip and everything. Logan didn’t tell zyr zy reminded him more of Aaron pouting than anything else when zy did that.

“How dare you mock those jeans! I’m going to be mourning those for the rest of my life.”

“Well, at least they did the job and snagged you Ronon before you went and ruined your figure.”

Tony exclaimed, “Asshole!” in mock outrage.

Logan chuckled and tossed his empty bottle into the recycle bin.

“Let’s go talk to Carter before you start throwing things at me…like your fists. I’m just _done_ with fistfights today.” He stood and thought the door open. “I’m pretty sure Doc Xander is done with broken noses, too.”

“Fine, fine,” Tony agreed. “Come on over tonight. You can tell Ronon how many people he’ll have for IST. That always makes him smile.”

“Good plan.” Thinking about Ronon making idiots regret their choices put a little smile on Logan’s own face, which had the added benefit of scaring the hell out of the next three people they met in the corridors. It was a win-win situation.

*~*~*~*

_Serreday, YangHui 2, First Year of the Returned  
(May 2, 2008)_

John slipped into his office and quickly thought the door shut behind him. He leaned forward, letting his head fall forward onto the closed door and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been one of those days where nothing had gone completely right for anyone, but it all ended up rolling uphill (it was supposed to roll _downhill_ , dammit!) until he was the one who had to deal with the fallout.

Carter had made the announcement that the Daedalus was on the way and would arrive by the 26th of YangHui. Unfortunately, that was over three weeks away, and the non-combat and non-Gate team assets were going to have reduced portions so their limited food supply would last. That had resulted in a slew of complaints and accusations of food hoarding that Dex and Wolfe had been sent off to investigate.

Which reminded John: he needed to make sure Carter had those two listed as non-rationed. Even if Tony weren’t pregnant, they’d both need the energy in the coming weeks. John knew there were days _he_ would rather deal with Wraith than with humans, so he didn’t envy the two their jobs in the near future. After all, John could just shoot the Wraith. Command frowned on shooting the city personnel, no matter how frustrating they were.

After the announcement, John had spoken with Carter about the message she’d received from Landry more than a _week_ before _,_ which notified her that the SGC and IOA were going to replace both of them along with Tony Dex and a few other people. John had been furious that she hadn’t shared what she’d been told, but it had soon become apparent that Carter thought he’d received the same information.

Carter had been apologetic and horrified that she’d made the assumption when she knew how vital all information from Earth was, so he was as sure as he could be that the two of them would be keeping each other updated, even if the SGC or IOA didn’t keep one of them in the loop. They’d tried to come up with the logic behind Landry not telling John what was going on, but nothing made sense. Even if they were taking John from Atlantis, he wasn’t gone yet, and he should’ve had that same information. It made them both wonder what was going on back on Earth.

All of that had been before his team’s mission to planet summer squash, as he thought of it, and that had been the icing on the cake. The natives of the planet hadn’t exactly run them off, but they’d been invited to leave while they still had all their limbs. The four of them had taken them up on their invitation and double-timed it back to the Gate, metaphorical tails between their legs.

So now John just didn’t want to talk to anyone for a while, and he was planning to hide out in his office until the coast was clear. Everybody knew he avoided the office because it meant paperwork, which was just as evil when it was on the computer as it was when he’d had to fill it out with a pen, so they wouldn’t come looking for him there.

As if on cue, someone cleared their throat behind him.

John froze. He should’ve known better. He was pretty sure they weren’t hostile, or he’d be dead already. Maybe if he ignored it, they’d go away.

“John.”

John raised his head and slowly turned around. He eyed the man trying to spin himself dizzy in John’s office chair and the woman sitting at the small table.

“Whatever it is, it wasn’t my fault, and I’m not dealing with it until tomorrow.”

Teyla got that little smile that meant she both pitted him and was amused by him. Ronon whirled himself around, though he caught his ankle on the edge of the desk and cursed. John didn’t feel the least bit sorry for him.

Giving in, John heaved a sigh and forced himself toward his desk.

“Out of my chair, Chewy.”

Ronon bared his teeth at him.

John scowled.

Teyla sighed like she’d been cursed with caring for two pigheaded toddlers. It was a look John was used to seeing aimed at Ronon and Rodney.

John crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Ronon, determined that if they were going to have a conversation that needed to take place in his office for whatever reason, he was going to sit in his own damned chair. He knew Ronon only got petulant like this when it was something he didn’t want to talk about but thought he had to. Or Teyla had bullied him into it, whichever.

“Ronon,” Teyla snapped finally.

“Fine,” he said, pouting as he stood and shoved past John.

He flopped down in one of the chairs at the table, and John smirked and made a point of sitting in his chair and wriggling around like it was the best thing he’d felt in ages. He was actually annoyed that the seat was warm from Ronon’s big ass, but he wasn’t going to let on.

“So what’s the deal?”

“Before Ronon’s unfortunate regression to youngling,” Teyla began, earning her another pout from the man, “he and I thought of a possibility we would like to discuss with you.”

“Teyla and I talked about it. We’re not sure how you feel about scavenging, but it might help our food shortage problem,” Ronon said, all playfulness and pouting instantly disappearing.

“Scavenging?” John glanced between them, trying to figure out where they were going with the idea.

“There are many worlds that no longer have inhabitants,” Teyla said, nothing about her demeanor betraying her own opinion about what she was saying. “It is not unheard of for other worlds to take advantage of the food animals and the crops the previous inhabitants left behind.”

John sat back, frowning. “So you think we should go scavenging these worlds, taking all their stuff that’s still there?”

He really didn’t like the sound of that.

“John, you come from a world of plenty. From our discussions, I know what you call first-world nations routinely throw away more than enough to feed several Pegasus worlds. You have not had to deal with failed harvests or animals poisoned by a bad well or an adversary. Even if those things happen, there are other first-world nations you may trade with to obtain the necessary food for your people.”

Despite John’s obvious discomfort, Teyla doggedly continued, “Here, things are not so easy. If we do not retrieve the crops left behind by those who no longer need them, they will either be taken by others or rot and die where they are, serving no purpose at all. There is no world in Pegasus so wealthy that they can afford such waste…at least, none that I am aware of.”

“We know you don’t see things in the same way,” Ronon said gruffly. “The talks I have with Tony, and even the arguments we sometimes get into, have taught me a lot about how Earthers think. I know you’re looking at this like it makes you a bad person if you take stuff from dead people.”

John made a face. “Yeah, it’s not something we do, at least not where I’m from. It’s a taboo, something that would be shameful to do.”

Teyla offered him a compassionate smile. “I am aware of that, yet I have spoken with Xander enough to know what _you_ are used to is not how _all_ of your planet lives. People who are truly hungry either glean the fields of their fallen neighbors, or they starve and die. There are also nations where the destitute live by scavenging through the mountains of food and other products discarded by the wealthy.”

John winced. Yeah, that happened in every country, even the so-called first-world nations.

“It’s not just food,” Ronon said. He sat forward and laced his fingers together on the table. Looking down at them, he said, “One of the first worlds I want to go to is former Sateda. There may not be anything left in the city, but I can get us to my family’s farm. Even if they’re feral, there should be food animals—livestock, Tony calls them—and fields that come back from the seed the previous year’s crops dropped when they died.

“Plus there’s the stockpile of weapons I made my pater and daetor keep in a hidden vault. If they’re still there, some of them will be energy rifles like the one I used the last time I was on former Sateda.” Ronon swallowed thickly. “I would’ve inherited the farm someday anyway. There isn’t anybody left but me to inherit the rest of former Sateda, so everything that’s useful there is rightly mine, if it makes you feel any better.”

John wondered what kind of an asshole it made him that it did help if he thought about it as going to get Ronon’s stuff rather than scavenging from a once-great civilization.

“The Athosians have returned to our former planet in order to plant crops each year. We did this knowing that most would go to others, but many times we returned to harvest what we could as well. That was how we survived the year we lost our crops on Lantea.”

John winced again at that reminder. Until the meeting the other week, he hadn’t thought about what the Athosians had had to do to survive without their crops they’d planted on Lantea. He’d known he and Weir had tried to help out some, but they’d stupidly assumed they’d had a storehouse or something, even when John would’ve known better if he’d thought about it for a second.

Teyla went on, “Halling proposed the idea of returning there for harvest time this year, which comes well before the harvest on New Athos. He proposed it not knowing of the problem with the _Daedalus_ not returning on time.”

“I’d be willing to go to former Athos and New Athos, but….” John clenched his jaw. “I’m not saying we won’t go anywhere else, but it’s hard for me to get my head around it being acceptable to go through other people’s stuff after they’re culled.”

“Don’t feel bad about it. Whether you say yes or no this time, it’ll come up again,” Ronon said so matter-of-factly that it made John feel a little sick. “Being humans in this galaxy forces us all to be pragmatic in ways that are hard at first,” he continued. “Do you think I had time to grow crops or raise food animals when I was a Runner? I stole, and I did it knowing it was wrong. I tried to hunt and glean edibles from the wild when I could, but a lot of the time stealing was the only way I could stay alive to keep running back then.” He shrugged. “I’m not proud of it, but I did what I had to. If it means feeding my meraska, kyta, and friends, then I’ll do whatever I have to now.”

John heard the unsaid _even return to former Sateda_.

It gutted him every time he realized anew how young Ronon had been when the Wraith made him a runner. Sateda had been destroyed in 1998. Ten years later, Ronon was about to turn thirty-one. That meant he’d been twenty, twenty-one at most when he’d lost his fiancée, his family, and his entire world. Then he’d been made a toy in a sick game for the very Wraith who’d murdered them all. It was a wonder the man was sane, and it made his devotion to Tony and almost fanatic need to keep zyr safe that much more understandable.

If Ronon could be so brave as to stay alive for ten years while believing he was the last of his people, then John could suck it up and get past his personal discomfort.

Huh. Speaking of Tony…. “You know if we go to former Sateda, Tony will want to go too.”

“Yeah, I know. I talked to Atlantis, and she agrees that zy should stay home until we do recon in a cloaked jumper. I know the Wraith who destroyed Sateda is dead, but we don’t know how closely any of the others watch that Gate. The way that first one watched Sateda is the only reason I’m pretty confident there will still be stuff for us to scavenge there.”

Teyla offered, “I will assist you in convincing Tony to remain until we know more about the situation.”

“Thanks, but no.” Ronon declined her offer politely but firmly. “Tony’s been unhappy about people treating zyr like a youngling who can’t make up zyr own mind. I’ll talk to zyr, and either zy will stay here, or none of us go to former Sateda at all.”

Oh. That made sense, actually. John was probably guilty of doing it too. He knew he’d caught himself being surprised by something Tony did when he wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been an XX or XY. It sucked to realize how much of that kind of thinking was still in him. He’d have to tell Tony it was okay to give him a reality check whenever zy noticed it. That way, zy’d know he was trying to change and wouldn’t be as offended, or so he hoped.

“Since we don’t know what we’re getting into there, let’s talk to Halling about going to former Athos first. I remember there’s that Alteran structure there, too. Let’s find out from Atlantis if she can connect to it through the Gate like she could her material harvester things. If that place has any power or sensors, it should be able to tell us more about what’s going on there on a day-to-day basis. I don’t want to take any risks that aren’t absolutely necessary.”

“I agree,” Teyla said with an understanding smile.

Ronon just nodded grimly. John suspected his mind was back on former Sateda. He couldn’t blame him.

*~*~*~*

_Chernday, YangHui 4, First Year of the Returned  
(May 4, 2008)_

Atlantis’ gentle voice called Tony back from the depths of slumber.

//Tony, wake. You wished to be awake when Rodney arrived.//

Tony’s lashes fluttered as zy dragged zyrself to full consciousness and realized that zy was curled beneath zyr favorite blanket on the sofa in the piano room. Zy sighed and rubbed the soft blanket against zyr cheek, not quite able to force zyrself to open zyr eyes.

The blanket was a Korean mink done in tones of gold, bronze, and brown. It, along with the traditional wedding gift of carved Mandarin ducks, had been a gift from Myung-Dae and Eun-Kyung, one of the very few married couples on the city. They had been delighted when Tony later told them that the ducks were displayed bill-to-bill, since that denoted harmony between spouses, on a shelf in the same room as Tony’s beloved piano.

Finally forcing zyr eyes open, Tony was surprised to see Rodney sitting on the piano bench, but turned to watch zyr with a concerned expression instead of playing.

“Hey.”

The gentle expression fled, and Rodney scowled at zyr. He crossed his arms and demanded, “Are you sick?”

Tony blinked, zyr eyebrows drawing down into a slight frown. “Um, no. Why?”

“You were asleep, but it’s not even 2000 yet.”

Tony arched zyr back and stretched hard enough that zy felt a couple of vertebrae pop into place.

“Oh, that felt good, damn,” zy mumbled. Another deep breath that turned into a yawn, and Tony forced zyrself to sit up, pushing the blanket to the side. “I’m not sick, Rodney. I’m pregnant. Haven’t you heard Ronon whining about how I fall asleep at the drop of a hat? Wait, I’m pretty sure _I’ve_ bitched about it, and it’s not nearly as bad now as it was. I didn’t feel tired when I sat down in here.”

“Maybe you mentioned it, but I probably wasn’t listening.” Rodney narrowed his eyes further and stared zyr up and down. “You’re sure that’s all it is? I could call Xander for you.”

Tony did zyr best not to roll zyr eyes.

“No, Rodney. This is perfectly normal, and Doc will only get the super serene, terribly amused expression he gets when neurotic people ask him about my health. Then he’ll refuse to tell you anything about a patient, and he’ll direct you to where he put every single parenting book he had on the servers because he was sick of putting them on individual drives for people.”

Tony suspected that some of those people were more curious about what pregnancy would be like for themselves rather than about what zy was going through. Zy truly wished somebody else would get pregnant just so people would stop looking at zyr stomach like they were waiting for zyr to suddenly look like zy swallowed a watermelon all the damned time, but that was another matter.

“Oh.” Rodney’s shoulders relaxed, and he uncrossed his arms, loosely curling his fingers around the lip of the piano bench beside his thighs instead.

“How far along are you?”

“Ninety-three days, as ahh—” Another yawn cut zyr off. “As of this morning,” zy finished.

“Isn’t that three Earth months? Does that mean you’re in your second trimester now?”

“Yep, technically as of day 90.”

“I thought that meant the first trimester stuff ended and you’d be fine for the next three months.”

Tony allowed zyrself a little smile when Rodney flushed. If he hadn’t read any books, he probably wouldn’t have known that little bit of information.

“Sort of. Everybody and every pregnancy is different. Usually the nastier side effects lessen for the next while, but that doesn’t mean they all go away completely. I sincerely hope I’m not going to pass out in Wolfe’s office when I’m talking to him about cases again,” (and hadn’t that been embarrassing,) “but I’m still making another human being inside me, and that means my body is working harder than it normally would be.”

Rodney was watching zyr, his brows furrowed in confusion, so Tony tried to explain it in a way that would make sense to him. “Think of it like this: if you’re injured—you break a bone, get shot, get sick, whatever—you’re really tired for a few days or even longer, right?”

“Well, yeah. My body has to heal either internally, externally, or both.”

“Right. You’re building skin, muscle, bone, antibodies, or whatever. Well, my body is doing that for nine months. I’m working to help the kyta build all zyr skin, muscles, bones, blood, nervous system, antibodies, and organs—everything that it takes to form a complete human. Plus, the only nutrition zy gets is directly from me. That’s _work_.”

Rodney’s eyes had gone wide, and when Tony finished, he exclaimed, “That’s insane! I mean, I knew that. _Of_ _course_ I knew that. But what are you doing awake? You should sleep more. Hurry up and go back to sleep! Right now! I’m going to tell Ronon to make you sleep more!”

“Rodney!” Tony laughed, holding up both hands. “Chill, buddy. I’m fine. I promise I’ll sleep whenever I need to.”

Rodney eyed zyr skeptically.

“Okay, how about this,” Tony relented. “I’m probably going to regret this, but I’ll give you permission to ask Atlantis if I’m taking care of myself. I’d say you could ask Ronon, but knowing the way you two can’t agree on the color of the sky, he’d get all offended. Just ask Atlantis instead. Though if it gets to be excessive, I’m going to cut you off, got it?”

“Fine.”

“Good.” Tony reached zyr arms over zyr head and indulged in another long stretch. “How about you? Are you taking care of yourself? You’ve been so busy with all that testing for that bridge thing that I didn’t know if I’d see you tonight.”

“Radek chased me out of the lab,” he admitted, his shoulders slumping. “He said I needed to go have piano time, or he’d strangle me with his bare hands. He didn’t even bother to curse at me in Czech, just English so he knew I’d understand it. I think it was because I made Miko cry. I didn’t even mean to this time!”

Tony sighed, noting the bags under his friend’s eyes and the tightness around his mouth.

“I know this is an important project. I definitely picked up on that when you yelled at me when I brought you supper the other night.”

“What? I did not! I don’t remember you bringing me anything!”

“You did, but I wasn’t offended. I know how you get wrapped up in these things. Believe me, I understand,” Tony hurried to explain. “I’m worried about you. I’ve been worried about you. That’s why I decided to wait in here tonight just on the chance that you’d come by.”

“You waited for me?”

For the thousandth time, Tony wanted to go back in time so zy could kill the McKay parents, then finish raising little genius-Rodney with Ronon. Even after months of friendship and even standing as Tony’s best man and brother at zyr wedding, Rodney was shocked that Tony liked him enough to make a point of getting to see him.

“Of course I waited for you. Here,” zy said, holding out zyr hand.

Rodney gave zyr a perplexed look, but gave zyr his hand readily enough—which Tony used to yank him off the piano stool and onto the couch with zyr.

Rodney squawked indignantly, but Tony ignored it, pushing and prodding him into place, then cuddled against his side. Zy didn’t put zyr head on his shoulder like zy would have done with Ronon. Zy thought that might be pushing it.

“What are you doing?!”

“Oh, just calm down,” Tony told him. The poor guy had gone completely rigid. “You’re exhausted. Take a little time to relax and talk to me, then you can play the piano while I make you some food, and then you can go back to running yourself into the ground.”

“Ronon—”

“Ronon would be fine with this, even if he were going to be back before second moonrise. He’s out with the Athosians doing…something. Something useful, I’m sure.”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“Oh, I’m sure he did. I just wasn’t paying attention. I heard Athosian, and I told him I had plans. There’s only so much adulation Magical-Unicorn-Kysra Tony can take.”

Rodney snorted and relaxed in increments. “Well, what can you do? You’re an avatar of the Vedaeus— _ouch!_ ”

“I’m not an avatar of anybody,” Tony grumbled, though zy did pat the area he’d pinched just above Rodney’s knee in semi-apology.

“You’re worse than Zelenka,” Rodney whined. “At least he just slaps my hand if I annoy him. You’re like my sister.”

It was Tony’s turn to snort. “Oh, I am _way_ less bitchy than your sister. I know that much from what you’ve said about her, plus your own ability to bitch people into submission. Getting the Gibbs-slap to the back of the head for years and then having Ronon tell me he doesn’t like playful hitting or slapping for his own reasons…. I guess I trained myself to pinch instead.”

“Oh, fine. I’d say your husband is a big sissy, but he’d find out and kill me in my sleep.”

“I doubt that, though he might insist on giving you self-defense lessons again,” Tony retorted, amused.

There was a comfortable silence that had Rodney relaxing further until he was a malleable lump between Tony and the arm of the sofa. When Rodney yawned, Tony wasn’t completely shocked to see the wide footstool that went with the sofa start to slide slowly closer. Tony just sighed. It seemed Atlantis thought Rodney needed to sleep too.

“Hey, can you bring the footstool a little closer?” Tony asked when zy thought the footstool was within range.

Rodney made a snuffling sound that made Tony wish zy hadn’t said anything. He’d probably been more than half asleep.

“Wait, what?” he mumbled. “Where—was that there when I came in?”

“No, it walked itself over here, Beauty and the Beast style, but without the barking,” Tony said truthfully, but with a hard edge of sarcasm so Rodney wouldn’t believe zyr. “I think you can get your toes under the edge and bring it over here so we can put our feet on it.”

Rodney grumbled, but did as Tony had asked. He sighed happily as he stretched out, making Tony smirk.

“Oh,” Rodney said, “Ronon told you his birthday is tomorrow, right? I think I was supposed to ask you a few days ago, but I forgot.”

“Ronon didn’t tell me, but yeah, I know.”

“What are you getting for him, more people to beat up on?”

“You really want to know?” Tony asked mischievously. Zy had plans for the morning, but zy was guessing that wasn’t what Rodney meant.

“Yeah, ‘cause I have no clue what somebody like him would want. Just the PG version of whatever you’re planning.”

“Well, I know you don’t think Ronon is very smart, but he really is. A few of those e-books I had you sneak through the last time we opened the Gate to Earth are for him.”

“Really?” Tony could hear the surprise in Rodney’s voice even if zy couldn’t see his face because his head was starting to droop the other way. “You ordered a bunch of stuff in Spanish and Italian.”

“Yeah. Ronon’s thoughts on the English language can be summed up as ‘stupid’ and ‘illogical.’ We’ve talked about other Earth languages, and I think Spanish will be the easiest for him to learn next. It’s logical, mostly consistent, and there are markings to put on the words where the rules don’t fit. There aren’t nearly as many idioms as English has, though there are more than Satedan has, I guess.”

“Huh. I read tons of computer languages, and I understand some Russian from when I got exiled there, but I don’t really speak any other Earth languages. It wouldn’t surprise me that English is a stupid language. Look how many politicians speak it fluently. That has to mean something.”

Tony snickered. In some ways, Rodney had a very black-and-white world view: people were either stupid or they weren’t. He’d never met a politician who was also an expert at the hard sciences; ergo, all politicians were stupid. Also, politicians had prevented him from doing things he’d wanted, and the IOA frequently tried to mess with the way Atlantis was run, which just reinforced his opinion.

Instead of commenting on any of that, Tony said, “I once heard someone say that ‘English is a language that lurks in dark alleys, beats up other languages, and rifles through their pockets for spare vocabulary.’”

“Probably talking about American English, then. Americans are ridiculously rude,” Rodney griped, making Tony bite zyr lips so zy wouldn’t laugh. “What else do you have for your cave-Dex? I can’t think books are the only things you’ve gotten.”

“Well, there is one other thing I can tell you about, especially since we’ll need you to move the file to the Tower server afterward.”

“What? What are you doing that needs a computer file?”

“We won’t _need_ one; we’re _making_ one,” Tony clarified. “We’re going for our third appointment tomorrow, and I got Doc Xander to agree to let us watch the kyta for an entire half hour.”

“Well, okay. That will make a larger file than normal.” Rodney was quiet for a few seconds, then said, “I don’t get why that’s a big deal. Is it soothing or something, like watching fish?”

“Rodney!” Tony let out a startled laugh.

“What?! Watching fish is supposed to be very soothing!” he protested. “Zelenka wanted to get a tank for the lab until I told him I would bypass his door security and cover his head with that pink goo stuff while he slept so he’d lose the rest of his hair. I don’t know what he possibly could’ve been thinking. He had to know stupid people would somehow break the tank and destroy all our equipment, and then where would we be?”

“Haven’t you looked at the files?” Tony asked, ignoring Rodney’s mini-rant.

“Of course not!” he exclaimed, shifting so he could glare at Tony. “I’d never invade your privacy like that.”

Tony patted his shoulder and nudged him back into place, still grinning.

“I didn’t think you would, but there isn’t anything you shouldn’t see on the files.”

Tony would know. Zy and Ronon had replayed them both enough that even Atlantis was bored with them.

Rodney huffed. “Oh. Well. I didn’t know, and I didn’t want to accidentally see you naked or something.”

“No, nothing like that. It’s just the kyta.” Tony wondered if Ronon would be irritated if zy shared the files with Rodney. Zy didn’t think so, since they had shared the printouts with the team already. “Atlantis, could you bring up the first—”

She cut zyr off with an aggrieved, //Yes. Perhaps it will make Rodney sleep.//

The familiar pinkish image appeared.

“This looks just like those pictures you showed me.”

“Yeah, this is the one I had my eighth week. At least you didn’t gasp and yell, ‘Tony, you’re having an Asgard!’ this time,” Tony said wryly.

John was still giving zyr shit about that, though not in front of Ronon because he’d decided he and John needed to start sparring more after the last time John had tried to tease Tony about it in front of him.

“Don’t be so touchy! I was concerned.”

Tony rolled zyr eyes, then smirked when Rodney jumped the first time the kyta kicked out zyr tiny feet.

“Yeah, Ronon and I were seeing this in real-time. We were surprised zy moves as much as zy does.”

“It’s kinda cute, for an alien-looking thing.”

Tony snorted.

“Atlantis, the one from just before week twelve, please?”

The file was replaced without additional commentary from the city.

“This one was a little early because we wanted to schedule it for our day off. Xander said we can’t do that every time, but he’s willing to try to work with us within the bounds of reason, except he didn’t define that. I guess we’ll wait and see.”

“This wasn’t that long ago. I thought you were going every month.”

“Yeah, we are. Xander made an exception—again—so we could have this next one on Ronon’s birthday.”

“Ears! Zy has ears now!”

Tony grinned. “Aren’t they cute?”

“Now they are, but you better hope zy takes after you. Ronon’s ears stick out a lot. It’d be best if the baby got my ears, but that’s not genetically possible, so I guess yours are the next best thing.”

Tony stared at the side of Rodney’s head incredulously before chuckling.

“Geez, Rodney. Never change.”

“What?” he asked without looking away from the video. “How big was zy here?”

“Nine centimeters. That’s a little larger than average, which is about 8.5—about the size of a peach.”

“Kyta’s pater is larger than average, so I’m not surprised,” Rodney muttered.

“Yeah, and I’m big for a kysra, so it makes sense that zy’s on the higher end of average. Doc X said at that appointment that zy had finished forming all zyr organs and everything, so zy was going to start putting all zyr energy into growing bigger, and I believe it. Just a couple weeks ago I could have passed as having a beer gut. I don’t think that’ll work now.”

Rodney turned his head to look at zyr abdomen. He lifted one brow. “Yeah, that’s not a beer belly. You definitely look knocked-up.”

Tony rolled zyr eyes. “Aw, thanks, Rodney. You say the sweetest things.”

“It’s the truth,” Rodney said, shrugging one shoulder. “Can I ask you a stupid question?”

“I doubt it’s stupid, but sure.”

“Why do kysra measure two weeks behind women for pregnancy?”

Whatever Tony’s expression was, it made Rodney go on the defensive.

“Oh, fine. Yes, I read that stupid book Xander put on the server! I was curious, so sue me!”

“Rodney, chill,” Tony said, trying to calm him before he went on a rant, or worse, got embarrassed and left. That had happened a couple of times in the past. “First, I appreciate that you care enough about me to be interested. I know how much you have on your plate all the time, so it means a lot that you took the time out of your schedule to read something you probably wouldn’t have if we weren’t friends.”

“Yeah, well….” Rodney shrugged again, but his cheeks and the tips of his ears were pink.

“Second, it’s not a stupid question at all. It didn’t make sense to me until Doc Xander explained that women don’t usually know the date they conceive. Even though they know when they had sex, or at least a likely date if they’re with a long-term partner, they don’t know the exact date of conception, which can be up to couple of days later because of how their bodies work. That means they start counting their pregnancy with the first day of their last period. Ovulation usually happens about two weeks after that, so that means they start counting at least two weeks before they could become pregnant.

“We kysra don’t have to do that. We know exactly when we conceive.” Tony frowned as zy tried to find the words to explain it. “It’s not anything I can quantify, which I’m sure is annoying to you. All I can tell you is that the morning I conceived, I had a big rush of hormones that made me feel kind of high. Even without the hormones, I’d have known. It sounds stupid when I say it, but I just knew that I was pregnant with the same kind of certainty that I knew the sun would come up.”

“That is weird, but it does explain why your baby is doing stuff that a female’s baby wouldn’t do for another two weeks,” Rodney said, settling back into the sofa.

 “It doesn’t have anything to do with how the babies develop, just how doctors count the weeks. It’s also why the doctors have to keep refining the due date as they watch the baby develop. Kysra just get one date. It might change as much as two or three days, but that’s it.”

“This is why I like science, real science and not that medical stuff that pretends to be science. Real science is predictable. If I tell you I can make a shield hold for nine minutes, thirteen seconds, then it will hold for exactly that.”

“Yeah, but you’re brilliant. Not everybody can do that, even in ‘real’ science, Rodney,” Tony said fondly.

They watched the video of kyta Dex for a while longer, and Tony recognized when it started to replay. Normally Atlantis didn’t loop it unless zy or Ronon asked her to.

“Pretty,” Rodney commented. “Still kinda alien, but pretty too.”

Rodney’s tone was odd, so Tony snuck a quick look, and zy noticed the time between when he blinked and when he opened his eyes was getting longer. Well, Atlantis would be pleased, and Rodney did look like he needed the sleep.

“Y’know, watchin’ the kyta is kinda relaxing. Maybe a lil’bit like watching fish, but not. ‘Cause it’s your baby. I wouldn’t like it if it were somebody else’s baby. It probably wouldn’t like me either.”

Tony eyed the blanket, then reached out slowly for it, grasping it between two fingers and pulling it closer slowly. If zy could get it over him, zy would put money on Rodney falling asleep. It was nearly impossible to stay awake under that thing.

“Your kyta’ll like me, right?” Rodney asked plaintively. “Jeannie’s don’t, but that’s b‘cause she hates me. Yours‘ll like me, even if Ronon doesn’t, right?”

“Of course zy’ll love zyr Uncle Rodney,” Tony soothed. “Mini-me will need you to teach zyr real science so zy can grow up and become an astrophysicist just like you.”

“M’kay,” Rodney agreed, his eyes closing and staying that way.

Tony drew the blanket up around them both. There was no way Rodney would sleep if Tony got up, so zy sighed and settled in for another nap. Zy consoled zyrself with the thought that zy would need the extra energy for the non-PG plans zy had for Ronon tomorrow.

*~*~*~*

_Keplerday, YangHui 5, First Year of the Returned  
(May 5, 2008)_

Ronon was dreaming. He knew he had to be, but he fought waking because then the wonderful touches and the wet heat rubbing over his cock would stop. He could feel his hips working, trying to get inside that tempting heat. He somehow knew it would be the tightest, hottest place he’d ever put his cock.

Ronon heard a low chuckle and was drawn closer to waking.

“C’mon, _caro,_ ” a voice he’d recognize anywhere crooned. “Parts of you are definitely awake. Time to bring that brain of yours online too.”

His lashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes to see his kysra’s smirking face over him. Zy was straddling his hips and grinding zyr ass against his cock. Ronon groaned and blessed The Five for giving him such a wonderful meraska.

Ronon lifted his hands to rest on zyr thighs.

“In,” he grunted, unable to say anything more coherent.

Tony’s smirk widened, but zy didn’t tease. Zy reached back and steadied his rock-hard cock, then sat back, slowly taking him inside zyrself.

Ronon’s eyes rolled back. He groaned.

Tony said something, but Ronon was too busy reveling in the hot, slick clench of zyr body around his to listen. Rolling zyr hips slowly, Tony began to ride him. Pleased words that Ronon couldn’t be bothered to translate and soft hitches of breath were a clear indication zy was enjoying zyrself.

Ronon let his eyes stay closed and used his hands to see his meraska’s body: zyr strong thighs, the left one with the scar from a bullet years ago, tensed and relaxed as zy moved over him. Zyr beautiful ass, which fit just right in his hands. The dip of zyr waist that was no longer unhealthily thin. The rounding between zyr hip bones, which couldn’t be mistaken as anything other than a growing kyta anymore. Then zyr ribs, which finally had a healthy layer of flesh, expanded and contracted with every panted breath.

Tony halted Ronon’s explorations and laced their fingers together, then pinned Ronon’s hands to the bed beside his shoulders and stopped moving entirely.

Surprised, Ronon grunted. His eyes snapped back open.

Tony gave him and evil grin. “There you are. Though you might go back to sleep.”

“Never. Just love touching you, proving to myself how well I know you, know your body.” Ronon made another disgruntled sound and thrust his hips up. “Move, dahrym.”

Tony leaned closer, bringing their lips together in a sweet, loving kiss that told Ronon he’d said something right. As if he didn’t know better than to say he kind of had been dozing and enjoying letting Tony do all the work. Ha! Ronon had been clever enough to woo a kysra; he definitely was smarter than that.

When Tony lifted zyr head, zy was smiling happily. Zy began riding him again without letting go of his hands.

“Love touching you too, husband. Almost thought you were gonna come before you woke up,” zy purred, rocking faster and letting zyrself drop onto Ronon’s pelvis, the sex going from pleasurable to hot in a flash.

Ronon growled and drew his knees up until his feet were flat on the bed. That gave him the leverage he needed to snap his hips up, forcing his cock deep and hard into Tony’s cloa the next time zy dropped down.

Zy gasped, zyr head going back, zyr jaw dropping.

“Cheater,” zy accused.

In response to Tony’s breathless accusation, Ronon bared his teeth in a predatory smile. Tony reflected the expression back to him, and anticipation filled him.

The air was filled with grunts, groans, and bitten-off curses as they worked together to bring each other to climax. Each breath Ronon took was filled with their combined sweat, arousal, and the distinctly salty-sweet scent of Tony’s slick as zy drew close to orgasm. Tony was so hard zyr cock was slick with precome, but zy refused to let go of Ronon’s hands so zy could bring zyr off first.

“Come, dahrym. Let me feel you come,” Ronon begged, his own orgasm practically sitting on his back teeth.

“You first,” Tony demanded.

Zyr thighs were shaking, zyr whole body shuddering every time Ronon’s cock grazed zyr prostate. Even if zy didn’t come first, Ronon knew it wouldn’t take much. With that knowledge, Ronon could allow himself to let go, to give in and let the wave of pleasure crest and crash through him. He felt his balls draw tight, and he started to come. With each pulse, his stomach flexed, and he grunted. Tony’s cloa became slicker as he emptied himself into zyr.

Nearly blinded by his own orgasm, Ronon heard Tony cry out as zy was seized by zyr own climax. He was able to get one hand free so he could grasp zyr cock and milk every last drop of come from zyr, prolonging zyr internal contractions.

With one last shudder, Tony collapsed over him. Ronon freed his other hand and cupped the back of zyr head as they caught their breath, and their bodies cooled.

When he could breathe again, Ronon hummed contentedly.

Tony lifted up on zyr elbows and leaned in for a kiss, which Ronon happily gave.

“G’morning, _caro_. Happy birthday.”

Ronon’s heart grew light, filled with joy. He traced Tony’s eyebrow and drew zyr back down, saying, “Having you in my life is a better gift than any I could have imagined.”

From the look in Tony’s eyes, speaking that truth had earned Ronon round two.

*~*~*~*

Teyla finished braiding her hair so the breeze would stop blowing it into her face. She tied it off with one of the clever elastic bands she’d traded an Earther for, then leaned into Evan’s side and sighed contentedly. Evan looked down at her and smiled, sliding his arm around her before turning back to listen to the end of Tony’s strange story about a criminal who broke into a woman’s home simply to grill a sandwich of cheese and Cheetos, whatever those were, then sit in a hot bath to eat it.

She caught Ronon’s gaze from across the way. He raised his eyebrows, widened his eyes, and gave a barely perceptible shake of his head before laughing obligingly when all the Earther guests did.

Well, at least Teyla wasn’t the only one who still thought Earthers were less than sane at times. She would think she finally understood them, then someone would tell of something that occurred on Earth, and she would realize how very strange they were yet again. Even people who had lived in the city long enough that she no longer thought of them as true Earthers would frequently do and say things that baffled her.

Of course, she had adopted enough of their turns of phrase and expectations that her own people thought her quite odd now. Perhaps it was just as well that Atlantis was rather obviously pushing both Earthers and Athosians toward becoming one people who would be known as the Satedans.

A fisher bird called out, and another answered it from a different part of the city. The grey birds with their long, red bills always became more active and noisy in the early mornings and when the second moon began to rise, as it was doing now. That had taken some getting used to when the birds had first discovered the city, but now it was a comforting sound.

Teyla’s gaze landed on each of her friends as they sat together on Ronon and Tony’s courtyard. It was good to see them all laughing together. She slipped her hand beneath the blanket, which Tony had gotten for her earlier when the cool night air had made her shiver, and laid it on Evan’s thigh. Perhaps she and Evan were quieter, but they were no less happy than any of the others.

Teyla was glad for the opportunity to see Ronon and Tony together in an informal setting. Tony had planned a birthday celebration for Ronon and, in addition to Ronon’s teammates, had invited Evan, Sgt. Major Wolfe, Colonel Carter, and Chief Poisson. There were just enough people that Teyla could observe Ronon and Tony together without being obvious.

So many months ago when Ronon had first posed the idea of going to Earth to bring back a kysra, Teyla had worried for him. She had feared that he would be disappointed. How could he not be, when Earthers were so strange, so different from the people of Pegasus? Too, she feared he was trying to replace the betrothed he had lost on Sateda. Teyla knew well that such an attempt would be doomed to failure.

Her worry had not abated after Ronon had returned with Tony. Zy was beautiful, true, but beauty meant little in Pegasus. Strength of character was far more important, and what kind of person would be willing to give up zyr entire life to go to another galaxy with a virtual stranger? One night of passion did not make a stable relationship.

Teyla had feared that Ronon would dedicate his whole self to making the kysra happy, but zy would not have the same devotion to him. More than anything, she had feared that Tony would decide zy could not cope with the reality of Pegasus, and zy would return to Earth, taking with zyr Ronon’s kyta and his heart. Teyla knew her friend would not survive such a loss.

So when Teyla met Tony, she saw zyr as more a symbol than a person. She saw zyr as a sign that there was hope for the future, hope the Vedaeus would return to them. However, she remained reserved and watched to see who this person truly was, kysra or no.

What she had observed since then pleased her greatly.

In the weeks and months following zyr arrival, Teyla had learned that while zy was something of a _jissa_ that could transform itself to blend in and appear to belong among any school of fish it chose, Tony never hid zyr devotion to Ronon. Not even when the others were teasing zyr about zyr physical desire for zyr husband, as their friends were doing presently.

“Oh yeah? We’ll see if you get your computer fixed the next time it just ‘falls off’ a desk,” Rodney griped, waving his hands and pointing as was typical of the man. He rolled his eyes. “As if we don’t all know _exactly_ how that happened.”

“Wasn’t that the second time you’ve had to fix that computer for Tony?” John questioned with false innocence.

“The second for this computer, but only because the first one was a complete loss!”

Tony’s cheeks flushed. Zy ducked zyr head and laughed with them.

“Well, can you blame me? You _have_ met my husband, right?” Zy gestured to Ronon, zyr hand moving up and down to indicate the entirety of his body. “Do you really think I’m going to say no to him no matter where we are?”

“The kitchen, the office, the TV room,” Ronon started to list, his hazel eyes sparkling with mischief.

John groaned, “Never gonna sit on that sofa again.”

Tony smirked. “The piano—”

“Don’t remind me! I’m still traumatized!”

“Sheppard’s office that one time—”

John abruptly stopped laughing. “Wait, what?”

“Almost Rodney’s office that time we were waiting for him to get back, but Zelenka walked in.”

“NO! Oh gods, why?!” Rodney wailed, looking up into the night sky as if for help.

“That was just in the last week.”

Cheeks still pink, Tony shrugged. “If you can’t handle the truth….”

John made a face. “But my office? Really?”

Ronon and Tony looked at each other, then burst into laughter.

“Okay,” Ronon admitted. “That might have been a lie.”

“Your office is still safe, John,” Tony snickered, leaning forward to move another glass to hold down the edge of the cloth that was covering the leftover cake until they either ate it or took it inside.

The wind was gaining quite a bit of strength with the rising of the moons. It made Teyla wonder if there were a storm on the horizon, despite the bright, sunny day they’d had. It would not be the first summer squall that had surprised them since moving to the planet.

John heaved a dramatic sigh of relief until Logan Wolfe stretched out his legs and drawled, “Yeah, right. Tell that to someone who didn’t have to delete the surveillance footage of the two of you in the hallway outside Sheppard’s office. Couldn’t you have waited until you were inside the room?”

“Nope,” Ronon and Tony said in unison, both grinning widely.

“You’re kidding, right?” John looked pained.

Wolfe smirked, then tossed back the last of his hot chocolate, licking his lips when he was done.

“Oh, come on. I sign your paycheck! Well, I don’t really, but I’m sure I do something important that makes it so you get paid!”

“I guess you’ll never know.”

Even Colonel Carter was laughing.

“John, I believe our friends are practicing the art of ‘trolling,’” Teyla said, taking pity on him. “Tony explained this to me as saying something deliberately provocative in order to elicit a specific response from one’s audience.”

“She’s right,” Ronon confessed. “You and McKay are so funny, it makes it hard to resist.”

John crossed his arms. He looked to Rodney and raised one eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me. You know Atlantis will never let me shut off their hot water. That’s not to say I won’t try.”

“Aww, c’mon!” Tony protested, though zy didn’t look too bothered if the way zy was snuggling against Ronon was any indication. “You guys started it with giving me crap about fixing my computer.”

“Fine,” John huffed. “We’ll call it even if I get another piece of cake.”

“Go for it. You guys can take the rest home, if you want,” Tony said. Zy patted Ronon’s stomach. “I made two, and this guy ate a lot of the first one as soon as I got it frosted.”

“Hey, being this old takes more calories!”

“Old?!” Colonel Carter exclaimed. “If you’re old at thirty-one, what does that make me?”

Wolfe cut in, “Gorgeous and brilliant; the same as every other day.”

Carter’s eyes grew wide, and she turned bright red.

Wolfe blinked like he hadn’t meant to say anything and was surprised at the words that had come out of his mouth.

Teyla hid her giggles against Evan’s chest, but the others weren’t so discreet.

“And _that_ is how you give a woman a compliment,” Tony proclaimed.

Ignoring the others, Wolfe smiled at Carter. “Sorry if I’m out of line.”

Carter cleared her throat. “Um, no. Not if you meant it.”

“I don’t say things I don’t mean,” he murmured.

The air grew thick with tension until Tony stretched zyr arms over zyr head and made a production of yawning.

“Well, hate to kick you guys out, but it’s gotta be done. It’s time for bed for all Curious Georges who want to see the tanricu tomorrow.”

It took very little time for everyone to be chivvied out the door—or into the transporter, more accurately. Teyla had to wonder if things would be awkward between the Sgt. Major and the Colonel, or if the attraction ran both ways.

Deciding it was none of her business, though she would be pleased if Colonel Carter found a companion whom she could trust, Teyla turned her mind to Tony’s last comment.

“Curious Georges?” she inquired as she and Evan strolled back to their quarters, hand-in-hand.

“I think it’s a kids’ book about a monkey—an Earth animal. I assume so because I saw one on the bookshelf my sister keeps for her kids. I don’t really know anything more about it.”

Teyla hmm'd. “If it is something meant for children, then perhaps we could obtain copies for the city. I doubt Tony and Ronon will be the only ones to have children. Perhaps even the Athosian children would enjoy hearing such tales.”

“I’ll look into it.”

Once in their bedroom, Teyla began to unlace her top.

“Here,” Evan came up behind her, sliding his hands beneath hers. “Let me help you with that.”

Teyla thought about very little for a long while after that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Gaussday, YangHui 6, First Year of the Returned  
(May 6, 2008)_

John looked around the command center and the Gateroom, where an unusual number of people seemed to be loitering. John knew exactly why they were there: AR-4 was returning from Verubriga. Every time Major Teldy’s team came back through the gate, more people seemed to be in the general vicinity, trying to catch any information they could about the not-dragon planet.

That morning was worse than usual because the high priestess had agreed to negotiate with them, but she had demanded a meeting with their leader in their city before she would finalize anything. Nothing Teldy and her team said dissuaded her. John privately thought the priestess didn’t believe they had a female leader. Surely it wasn’t the first time people had tried to lie to get them to trade their valuable aknata.

While having a delegation come to Atlantis from another planet would normally be out of the question, without the _Daedalus_ bringing supplies on time, and with a projected arrival date over two weeks away, the city was desperate for a source of meat, and a massive source at that. They were making inroads trading for other products on other planets, they’d started hunting and fishing for themselves, and harvesting from former Athos had certainly helped, but Verubriga was their best hope for large quantities of red meat.

The entire city knew the _Daedalus_ was fine but had been significantly delayed, yet despite the initiation of rationing, very few knew how serious the situation was. When she’d announced the start of rationing, Colonel Carter had made it clear she’d be right there with them on restricted rations, since she wasn’t on a gate team, nor was she a combat asset. That had gained her a lot of respect from the vast majority of people, who realized she wasn’t going to be one of those leaders who cut the supplies for others but went on eating surf-and-turf herself.

John was glad the Lorains were arriving if only because it kept people focused on that rather than their worries. The people who’d found they had work that couldn’t _possibly_ be done anywhere but in ops (or somewhere else that coincidentally had a line-of-sight view of the Stargate) were there because they were excited. Part of the credit or blame for that excitement could be put directly on Tony Dex’s shoulders, since zy had been the one to enthusiastically repeat Ronon’s and Dr. McNamara’s descriptions of the not-dragons to anyone who asked. Add to that the high probability that the high priestess would bring one with her, and everyone in the city tried to come up with an excuse to be there. Even Sgt. Major Wolfe didn’t look too annoyed to be standing around. Normally, he had no patience for the pomp and circumstance that went along with a meeting between dignitaries.

John was pretty sure everyone on the city thought Tony wanted a tanricu. John thought Tony was more fascinated by the idea of them than anything else, which was completely understandable. Zy had said something to the effect of not wanting to clean a litterbox that big. However, John didn’t know if he could expect that to last if the opportunity arose for Tony to trade for one. Heck, being kysra, zy probably would just need to tell the Lorains zy wanted one, and they’d be happy to offer zyr a selection of sizes and colors.

“Oh crap,” John whispered in horror.

Colonel Carter, who was standing next to him, turned to him with a questioning look.

“Tony can never, under any circumstances _ever_ , be allowed to go to Verubriga.”

Carter smirked, her blue eyes teasing. “Just figured that one out, huh?”

John frowned. “I thought you were only mean to McKay.”

“Oh, I am,” she retorted with an evil grin. “Hey, maybe you should go bug Rodney until the gate lights up.”

A quick glance revealed the Chief Investigator to be in what was doubtlessly a riveting conversation with the Chief Science Officer. (And if anyone believed that, John had a real nice bridge in London he would sell them.) Even if John had believed Tony was doing something essential, the long-suffering expression on Ronon’s face would’ve given it away. There was no question in John’s mind that Ronon was chaperoning the two just to make sure Tony didn’t somehow magically call to the tanricu through the Stargate when it opened.

“Is that being mean to me or to McKay?” he asked skeptically, staring back at her.

Carter’s grin widened. John took that as her saying she was being mean to them both.

“Fine. Be that way.”

John sauntered over to the ops station where the three were talking. Well, Tony and Rodney were talking. Ronon was leaning against the station, suffering not-so-stoically.

John manfully refrained from snickering at Ronon’s pain. Despite Tony’s close friendship with Rodney, Ronon found the scientist frustrating at best. Feeling a little mischievous, John decided he was going to torture all three of them before the delegates arrived. The ops station was just at the edge of the doorway, so he’d have plenty of time to get back in place before anyone actually walked through the gate.

Evan Lorne, still on Carter’s other side, shot him a knowing look.

“Hey, guys. Important talk?”

There was a stereo version of _yes_ was followed by Ronon’s lone _no,_ which earned him a glare from the other two.

“Well, if it’s so important it can’t wait, maybe this isn’t the place to have it. For some odd reason, there are an awful lot of people around today.” John tucked his hands into his pockets and continued innocently, “Don’t you have an office yet, Tony?”

“No,” Ronon grunted, scowling. “We should go find zyr one. Now.”

Tony elbowed Ronon and gave John a congenial smile. “Not yet, but that’s okay. Rodney and I weren’t discussing anything top-secret, so we’ll just finish up right here. I’m fine with using that office a little way from Wolfe’s if I need to have a private discussion. I moved the stuff into a corner, so now I have all four chairs free.”

Ronon grumbled something John purposely didn’t listen to, having long ago learned to tune him out when he insulted Rodney and vice versa. Rodney looked like he wanted to stomp on Ronon’s foot, but he thought better of the idea before he could actually do it. The man did have a functioning self-preservation instinct.

“Well, that doesn’t quite seem fair. Does that seem fair to you, Ronon?”

“Nope. Has to be a real office for Tony around here somewhere. Let’s go look.”

John had only opened his mouth to reply when the gate lit up _._ He sent an apologetic look to Ronon, who sighed, and got his ass back to Carter’s side just as the event horizon stabilized.

Chuck confirmed AR-4’s IDC, and then Major Teldy, her team, the high priestess, two human guards, and three creatures John had to assume were the renowned tanricu walked through the gate and came to a stop just far enough away for the wormhole to collapse.

The tanricu had made it through the gate, but they were seriously pissed off about something. He and Evan both moved in front of Carter as all three of the beasts rose up on their hind legs and made a horrific noise that was a cross between a scream and a roar. Everyone within hearing distance winced and covered their ears except for the three Lorains. The women had turned and were petting the things, talking to them. Though John couldn’t tell what they were saying, he assumed they were trying to get them to calm down.

The one on the right, whose coloring went from dark, glossy green on its back to light, yellow-green on its belly, flapped its gigantic wings and struck out at the gate itself with a stream of fire.

John sucked in a deep breath. He was going to be seriously pissed if one of them broke their gate!

It didn’t take the priestesses long to soothe the tanricu, despite John’s worry. The three creatures took their places beside the human women and somehow folded their wings until they were sitting back on their haunches, kind of like a bird on the top of a post, and their wings were folded up behind them. The middle of the wing bent so the tanricu could use the middle joint, which had three, taloned toes, John noted, to balance on the floor. He thought they looked a little like football players balancing on their knuckles at the starting lineup, except they were sitting down rather than standing with their asses in the air.

The tanricu on the left might have been the most intimidating, with its blue-black scales that faded to a soft orange on its belly, except that it and the green one were about two-thirds of the size of the middle one. John assumed the really big tanricu was the high priestess’. It was a deep, shiny purple that looked almost like it had red at the edges of its scales in one light, but then looked like it had blue in another. Even its belly was that same, duo-chrome color rather than fading to something lighter.

Objectively, the tanricu were pretty, in a predatory sort of way, but their talons and pointed snout—which John knew was for snapping the spine and breaking the bones of the aknata—had John’s balls trying to crawl up in his body where they’d be safer. Not safe, but _safer_.

The three women weren’t anything that unique. There were two brunettes and a blonde, and they were all lean and muscular. Their hair was intricately braided tight to their heads, and they wore close-fitting, brown leather clothing. The only thing that was different was they didn’t have any jewelry or metal of any kind that John could see. All the fastenings to the clothing looked like the same leather or cording.

John made the mistake of looking over at Tony and had to cover a laugh by clearing his throat.

Tony was grinning from ear to ear, zyr eyes fixed firmly on the tanricu, and zy was, well, _cooing_ at them. They had all been warned that the tanricu were sacred to the Lorains, so any act of violence toward them was an act of violence toward the high priestess herself, but Ronon sure looked like he wished he could blast the things and put an end to a very large, carnivorous threat.

John would have to take Ronon a bottle of Zelenka’s moonshine to help him drown his sorrows later. If John happened to have a couple drinks too, well, that was just him being a good teammate. Nobody should drink alone. It had nothing to do with the women and their terrifying, weird-ass pets that would be on the city for the next couple of days. Not at all.

Once the tanricu were settled, Carter, Lorne, and John all moved down the steps as planned. Major Teldy led the Lorain group toward them, the tanricu using that same wing joint and talons to help them walk, and they all met in the middle.

Teldy and her team stepped to either side and bowed first to the Lorains, then to Carter.

Teldy turned back to the priestesses. “High Priestess Faerl, I present to you Colonel Samantha Carter, the leader of Atlantis. Ever loyal by her side are Colonel John Sheppard and Major Evan Lorne, my commanding officers.”

Teldy turned to Carter, “Colonel Carter, I present to you High Priestess Faerl. Companion by her side is the whirlwind Mair, Swiftscream. Ever loyal at her back are Priestess Theyrn and Priestess Drusta with their windsisters Deathsbane and Stormclaw.”

John forced himself to control a shiver. It was unnerving to be stared at by three sets of reptilian eyes…eyes that had more than just animal intelligence behind them. Swiftscream— and what the hell kind of name was that?!—ignored him and focused on Carter. Deathsbane, the black and red-orange one, and Stormclaw, the dark green and yellowish-green one, seemed to stare first at him, then at Lorne. It was really fucking creepy, if he did say so himself.

And he did. Loudly and with profanity, if only in his head.

“Welcome to Atlantis, High Priestess Faerl, Mair Swiftscream—” John was proud of Carter for only pausing minutely before she said the tanricu’s name. How had they forgotten to ask Teldy what the damned not-dragon’s name was? “—we are pleased to receive you to the city of Atlantis.”

High Priestess Faerl gave a solemn nod. “It pleases us to be received by you.” She paused and looked at her tanricu, which had been flaring its nostrils above the beak-like tip of its snout. “The windsisters would know your scent.”

John had been a whole lot more comfortable with this little get-together before there were as many tanricu involved, but Carter went ahead and extended both hands, palms up, to Swiftscream. The tanricu stretched out its neck and huffed in Carter’s scent long enough that John was getting worried, but the creature finally pulled back and gave a long, rumbling growl that seemed to vibrate the whole room. That was bad enough, but then the other two took up the sound, and John tensed, prepared to cover Carter if one of them went after her.

Faerl chuckled, her dark eyes glittering with amusement. “That is the sound they make when they are pleased. Your Major Teldy called it a purr.”

John was going to have to have a little talk with Teldy. She’d said the tanricu purred, but she sure as hell hadn’t described it as the bone-rattling noise Swiftscream and the others had just made!

“Forgive us. We’re not accustomed to tanricu, as Major Teldy must have told you. We were unprepared for them to be so loud,” Carter apologized. “Please, let me escort you to the conference room we set up. We have refreshments, though I’m afraid we didn’t anticipate more than one tanricu, so we might have to send for more.”

“Not necessary, Colonel Carter. The tanricu only eat every few days, or they become dull and sluggish. Too much food also affects their agility in the air, which can be deadly when they fight or hunt. Unlike humans, tanricu eat only when they become hungry. You may offer them sustenance, but please do not be offended if they do not eat.”

Well, that was comforting. Sort of. John just wasn’t going to think about what could happen if one of them happened to get a little peckish. John liked all his limbs where they were, thanks. He was kind of attached to them in their current configuration.

Damn, he’d have to remember that one to share with Rodney later. Teasing Rodney with bad puns was almost as much fun as teasing Chuck about hockey being a second-class sport.

“Of course. I’m happy to have the chance to learn more about the tanricu. It is a privilege to have them here.”

Carter offered Faerl an apologetic smile, which John didn’t get until she spoke again.

“High Priestess, I only ask that you have patience with us. In many ways, my people are still young and learning to be a people of Pegasus as well as people of Atlantis. We have no wish to offend, but we are very curious about our fellow beings.”

Oh, Teyla must’ve worked with her on that line. It seemed like Faerl liked it, though, because she nodded and gave Carter a pleasant smile.

“We were all young once, Colonel Carter. I will explain any misstep that causes offense. Let us never be divided over a misunderstanding. It is well our peoples are governed by women, rather than men who are ruled by pride and hormones, so we may avoid such things.”

Okay, prideful and overly hormonal weren’t the worst things John had ever been called. So far, so good. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to spend too much time around the tanricu before the trade agreement was ironed out.

*~*~*~*

Rodney scowled and barely restrained his urge to punch Zelenka. Well, he wouldn’t really punch him, but he might put a virus in his computer.

“No, no, _no_! If you make it a sweep, even for specific size, you will capture everything from crops to insects to small rodents!” Zelenka snapped. “I am thinking you do not want to repeat the Great Vole Infestation from two years ago. You remember what they did to all the wiring we had stored in warehouse seventeen.”

Rodney grunted, which was as far as he was willing to go to acknowledge that Zelenka might have a point.

“Atlantis said her harvesters work by harvesting the specific chemical compound or element she wants. They automatically move over the terrain—or through space, like that asteroid belt—and take in whatever they find. Then they separate the elements she wants and leaves behind the refuse. That would be ideal.”

“Even better would be to leave behind refuse and follow with another beam that worked it back into the soil. Disking, I think it is called in English. Would make for richer soil for planting the next crop.” Zelenka pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose with one finger. “If we had aknata or other livestock on mainland, parts of plants not used for human food could be fed to these animals.”

Rodney would have to take his word on that. He didn’t know much about agriculture, nor did he really want to. What he wanted was something to harvest fields without putting a bunch of people out there with scythes and the primitive machines Pegasus had. They had gotten _very_ lucky on former Athos, but that wouldn’t last. Harvesting that way had taken a week, even with Earth and Athosian people working together, and the Wraith would end up culling people sooner or later.

Probably sooner, with the way the galaxy was going.

Rodney already planned to go back to former Athos to investigate the Alteran structure. Atlantis hadn’t been able to get anything from it, and it had been eerily dead to the jumper instruments, but he hoped there would be something interesting (yet not deadly) inside it. Even if the structure were totally dead, it might be possible to take sufficient power crystals to give it enough power to turn it into a surveillance device so they could monitor the planet.

The Athosians were going to continue planting and harvesting what they knew to be fertile soil on a planet with a fairly moderate climate, which meant the rest of the city would be right there with them because New Sateda hadn’t been investigated nearly enough to know what the soil and dangers were like on the mainland yet, though doing so had jumped to the top of the list for the various biology sub-departments. Much to Rodney’s chagrin, Zelenka had been the one to point out that if they had surveillance on the planet, they could open the gate to check in rather than leaving people there or sending people in jumpers every time. It would be a much safer way to do things.

“We’re going to have to find a way to have the harvesters sample whatever it is they’re supposed to be harvesting, especially if it’s something as small as a grain of wheat or whatever,” Rodney concluded.

“Ah, yes. Scan function, then harvest function. This makes sense.”

“Of course it does. I thought of it.”

It would still expose people because someone would have to obtain the sample of whatever grain, fruit, or vegetable they wanted so it could be scanned; however, the risk would be minimal compared to what they were stuck doing now. They’d only have to land the jumper, grab a sample, scan it, then scurry back into the jumper and switch the harvester from scan to harvest.

Zelenka ignored that statement and gave him a cautious look. “Perhaps we should also program in all Earth foods. Just in case.”

Rodney hmm’d. “Especially coffee beans.”                        

“Yes, yes. Very true. Perhaps we grow them on the mainland and must harvest them.”

They both were perfectly aware that wasn’t all they wanted their harvester to do. At some point, Rodney was going to figure out a way to get it to Earth. He’d already contacted his investment manager and had her look into buying large swaths of land in various countries. He planned to pay people to plant and care for wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, and more, depending on the climate. Then Rodney would collect the harvest and smuggle it to Atlantis. If he had anything to say about it, they’d never have to depend on the _Daedalus_ for staples like flour, potatoes, and sugar again.

Watching people around him have their portions reduced while his remained the same because he was on a gate team was unexpectedly painful. He blamed Tony for making him _feel_ things for people. It was inconvenient, even if Tony and Teyla had started giving him warm smiles when he said something they thought showed he was feeling compassionate or something else nonsensical. Just because he didn’t want people to starve, no matter who they were, didn’t mean he actually cared about them. What a ridiculous notion.

“It’s going to have to work through the cloak,” Rodney commented casually. “We can’t have the jumpers just flying back and forth over a field and not expect them to draw attention from the Wraith or someone else.”

Radek didn’t look at him, but he could tell they were thinking the exact same thing: they didn’t want someone claiming they’d seen aliens harvesting crops on Earth. It would be just their luck that they’d accidentally out the entire Stargate program, and then Rodney would be exiled back to Russia, if he was lucky. If not, he’d be counting the bugs in whatever deep, dark hole they threw him in.

“Which means the harvesting beam must be invisible, not a bright light as the Wraith culling beam or Asgard beaming tech. This is also a good idea.”

Rodney didn’t bother to say anything to Zelenka’s grudging admission. He just allowed himself a smug little smile. They’d figure it out. They always did.

*~*~*~*

_Casimirday, YangHui 7, First Year of the Returned  
(May 7, 2008)_

Tony was disappointed zy hadn’t been able to get a closer look at the tanricu. It was especially tempting now that zy’d caught a glimpse of them. Zy understood why Ronon didn’t want zyr anywhere near the deadly creatures, and zy honestly agreed about not wanting to get up close and personal with them, but that didn’t mean zy didn’t wish zy could see them a little closer than from behind the protective, clear barrier that divided the central ops area from the staging area.

Zy and Ronon had talked about it, and they didn’t know what kind of abilities the creatures had other than the obvious talons and teeth, nor did they know how they or the priestesses would react to meeting a kysra. Kysra ventured off Sateda so rarely that there was no way to know if the Verubriganians who would be coming would’ve met one at all. Plus, Tony would prefer not to find out zy smelled like the tanricu version of Kibbles ‘n Bits, as unlikely as it was. That was why zy’d had Atlantis beam them both into their apartment after getting that first look. Zy and Ronon hadn’t even gone running on their usual route in the central city the next morning, since they knew the Lorains and the tanricu were there somewhere.

It was only after Tony realized zy had left zyr work tablet in Wolfe’s office the previous day that Tony decided zy wanted to take a chance and stretch zyr legs to go get it.

//Are you certain you do not wish me simply to retrieve your tablet? I could do so easily, and Ronon will worry if he knows you have left your home while there are non-Satedans here.//

Tony stopped at the door to the transporter. Maybe zy should just have Atlantis get it for zyr.

//Besides,// Atlantis continued, “you should wait, as I am working on something that requires a great deal of my focus and energy. I will not be able to rescue you if you get into trouble.//

Okay, that rubbed Tony completely the wrong way. Zy knew Atlantis didn’t mean it like it sounded, but it still made zyr feel like zy was a toddler whose parent wanted zyr to hold her hand instead of wandering off.

“No, I want to go myself. I’ll take the back corridors so I don’t see anyone.” Zy stepped into the transporter and pressed the first location zy wanted. “Just don’t tell Ronon, and he won’t know until he comes home tonight. He’ll be cranky for a little bit, but then he’ll get over it.”

//After you have Separated from me and spent what you call ‘naked time’ with him. _This_ I do not doubt,// Atlantis retorted dryly.

Tony couldn’t help but snicker as zy hurried down the hall to the next transporter. The door closed behind zyr, and zy pressed the location of the next one zy wanted.

“Probably. I know what Teyla said, and it doesn’t seem like we’re going to end our _nal atan_ any time soon.”

//A statement of such truth, it could be used as the measure of all others.//

Tony laughed out loud, delighted that Atlantis had started teasing zyr instead of being so serious all the time.

“Oh, come on! We do other things too!” Tony protested, still laughing, as zy jogged down the corridor to the next transporter and pressed the last location.

//Yes. You also sleep.//

The transporter doors opened, and Tony darted out into the hall. This was really the only section zy might see anyone, since it was actually within the central tower, but it was unlikely enough that zy thought zy’d be fine.

Of course, as zyr luck seemed to go, at the same time zy jogged around the corner, zy heard mentally, //No, wait! Kysra!//

Zy physically heard, “Please stop, ma’am. We’re not going that way, so you don’t need to clear that area for the high priestess.”

Unable to stop quickly enough, Tony slammed directly into another person, sending them both to the ground. Zyr exclamation of “Oh, shit!” blended with whatever language the other person shouted. At the same time, the voice from before cursed and said, “Colonel Sheppard, could you please bring your party to my location immediately? We have a situation.”

Then there was the furious growling that seemed to vibrate Tony’s entire body.

Zy looked up into a blonde woman’s furious, snarling face. She was wearing the tight leather clothing zy’d just seen yesterday, and she had a black tanricu scale on a leather thong around her neck. Tony cursed mentally as zy realized zy had literally run into exactly whom zy had been trying to avoid. Why hadn’t Atlantis warned zyr _before_ zy had gone running into the junction?!

The woman had zyr pinned to the floor, a deadly-looking knife raised and ready for attack.

//Tony!// Atlantis was nearly frantic in zyr mind.

“I’m okay, not hurt or anything,” zy said to Atlantis and the unknown woman. “If you are too, would you mind not killing me now? Look, no weapons on me at all—” which was just stupid on zyr part, since there were unknown people on the city, “so you can see this was just an accident, right?”

The woman lowered her hand with the knife but continued to glare at zyr with icy blue eyes, her teeth bared, as if deciding if zy was worth the bother of killing.

“Ma’am? Ma’am! Please don’t do that! Dex isn’t a threat to you or your high priestess,” the young Marine said urgently.

“Uh, look. I’m really, really sorry. I need to watch where I’m going more…and I will definitely do that from now on. Do you think it would be okay if I got up now?”

//I will retrieve you, Tony.//

“No, don’t!” Tony exclaimed at Atlantis, then added, “Don’t worry, I mean. How about you? Are you alright?”

It was at that point that Tony got to see a tanricu a whole lot closer than zy wanted to. The thing stuck its pointy snout with all its razor-sharp teeth bare inches from Tony’s face. It smelled like hot sand and ash, making Tony wish zy could hold zyr breath. The last thing zy needed was to puke all over the nice, terrifying lady.

“Awww, shit. Ms. Death Bane, please move back from the civilian. If you’re hungry, we just brought in some excellent osturk that I would be happy to have brought to you,” the Marine offered desperately. “If you’d like more of a challenge, we have the fisher birds outside. There’s a balcony just a few meters down the other way. You and your sisters could all go for a fly if you wanted to.”

The tanricu flared its nostrils and abruptly went silent. It nosed its human companion off Tony and leaned over zyr itself, sniffing its way down zyr chest. When it got to the Bump, as Tony had been calling where zyr pregnancy had truly started to show, it stopped and pulled in a huge gulp of air. It let out a softer growl that didn’t sound nearly as angry.

Tony continued trying to defuse the situation with humor, “I would love to get up now, preferably before your friend decides I taste good with ketchup.”

“She has none of this _ketchup_.” The woman’s voice was harsh, like she’d gargled with gravel. “Nor is Deathsbane hungry.”

“Okay, that’s probably good. She wouldn’t like me anyway. I’d be all fat and gristle and hardly any muscle at all. Plus it would get her scales all messy.” Tony paused and looked between the two. “Does that mean I can get up now?”

The woman gave a single, sharp nod, so Tony rolled onto zyr side and started getting slowly to zyr feet about the same time two more tanricu and their human companions, along with Carter, John, and Lorne came streaking into the junction from another corridor. Tony barely missed landing flat on the floor yet again.

“Theyrn, we heard Deathsbane.”

Deathsbane. Wasn’t that just a cuddliest name that ever cuddled? Tony desperately wanted to go back fifteen minutes and rethink zyr decision not to have Atlantis bring zyr the damned tablet.

“Uh, that would be my fault, sorry,” Tony apologized. “I didn’t think anyone would be in this section, so I wasn’t watching where I was going when I left the transporter, and I was in a hurry. I kind of ran into, uh, the priestess—sorry I didn’t catch your name—in the junction and knocked us both off our feet.”

“Are either of you injured? Do we need to go to the infirmary?” Carter asked pragmatically. Only the tightness of her features betrayed her anxiety.

John was doing his best to glare a hole in the Marine who had been escorting the first priestess. The Captain looked like he wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else, really.

“No, I’m fine.”

“I am uninjured.”

The high priestess—or so Tony assumed, since she’d been the one in the middle when zy’d briefly seen them yesterday—narrowed her dark eyes at zyr.

“Then why was the windsister so furious?”

“Deathsbane and I were both surprised and reacted strongly. She calmed instantly after taking this one’s scent. It is my confusion at her calming that you sense, not any injury.”

Tony found zyrself the focus of everyone in the corridor, tanricu included. Zy was tempted to joke that zy really had showered that morning, so zy couldn’t smell that bad, but zy was pretty sure it was not the time for jokes of any kind. Humor didn’t seem to be working too well for zyr so far.

“Swiftscream,” the high priestess said without looking away from Tony.

The largest of the tanricu prowled toward.

John took a breath to object, but Tony wrenched zyr gaze away from the priestess’ and met his eyes. Zy pressed zyr lips together, trying to psychically will him to understand they shouldn’t screw up negotiations over an accident. Zy didn’t think the tanricu would hurt zyr—the other one hadn’t—and Atlantis had gone silent in zyr mind, apparently willing to wait and watch for the moment.

It was strange for Atlantis not to have any opinion on the matter at all, but Tony wasn’t going to worry about her until zy had to.

Swiftscream—and there was another gentle, cuddly name!—pressed its, or her, Tony supposed, since that was how the priestess had referred to the tanricu, snout directly against Tony’s chest, making zyr jump back.

“Ah, hi there, uh, Swiftscream,” Tony tried to laugh off zyr reaction. “You’re a friendly gal, huh?”

Swiftscream snorted, then started pulling in Tony’s scent just as Deathsbane had. Tony forced zyrself still and endured it until the tanricu started huffing against the Bump as long as zy could stand it. Zy put both hands over the Bump and took a half-step back.

“Look, could you just…not do that? Your breath is really hot. I hadn’t expected you to be so hot. But I should have, what with the whole breathing fire thing.”

Swiftscream made a low, rumbling sound, and the third tanricu sild behind Tony, preventing zyr from backing away any farther. Tony could feel the heat of her through zyr clothes, which felt strange but not uncomfortable. Zy was nudged back toward Swiftscream. She snuffled Tony’s belly over zyr hands one last time, as if proving that she could no matter what zy thought about it, then backed up enough Tony didn’t feel in immediate danger of being eaten.

All three tanricu started to rumble-purr. The high priestess was frowning as she stared down at where Tony was protectively covering the Bump.

“I have only ever seen the tanricu respond thusly when they encounter a woman with child.” Her dark eyes came back up to pin Tony in place. “But you are no woman.”

Tony swallowed. Oh, fuck. Ronon was going to kill zyr. This was exactly what they’d been trying to avoid. Just that morning, they had again talked about not wanting any of the other cultures to know kysra existed yet.

“You’re right. I’m not.”

“Yet the tanricu never lie, and they are never wrong. All react as if they believe you prepare to bring forth a life from within you.”

“Lifebringer…well, uh, that’s….” Tony scratched zyr neck and winced. “That’s, uh…. Lifebringer is one name for my kind.”

“Impossible!” hissed the third priestess. She was glaring so fiercely that Tony wondered if she were part tanricu—or maybe related to the original Medusa and about to turn zyr into stone.

There was no way Ronon wasn’t going to find out about this, if Atlantis hadn’t already ratted zyr out. Tony thought it might be prudent to make sure he knew zy was alright, if in a bit of a situation. With Tony’s luck, Ronon would randomly decide to go back to the apartment and discover Tony was gone. If zy was being honest with zyrself, zy just wanted him there with zyr, too.

“Um, would somebody mind notifying my husband, please?”

//I already told him what has transpired, and he is on his way. Shall I assist him?//

Huh. Atlantis had an interesting combination of angry-resigned-guilty going on.

“The sooner, the better. He’s going to be furious with me for sharing our secret as it is.”

Moments later, the transporter opened, and Ronon came storming down the hall, only to backpedal when all three tanricu put themselves between him and Tony. They snarled menacingly at him, Swiftscream opening her mouth and making a screaming noise at him, appropriately enough.

Oh yeah. That was just great. If Tony lived through this, Ronon was never going to let zyr out of their apartment, and zy wouldn’t even be able to say zy didn’t deserve to be locked up.

“Hey, now, guys—er, ladies. That’s my husband, so please leave all his parts arranged the way they are right now.” _Even if he is trying to stare you down and make you get out of his way through sheer force of will_ , zy added silently.

Deathsbane cocked her head. Tony hesitated, but then reached out and touched the blue-black, metallic-looking scales on her side.

“Wow, you’re really warm. Your scales are more like armor plating, and they’re as smooth as they look too. But. Uh, that’s not the point…which is please don’t eat my husband.”

Deathsbane twitched her head, her golden eye rolling to the side to see zyr better.

“Uh, mate? Is that a term you understand better? That is my mate, so please don’t hurt him.”

Tony wasn’t sure if zy or Ronon was more shocked when the tanricu grumbled but stepped aside to allow Ronon through. He rushed to Tony, grabbing zyr shoulders and giving zyr a look of fear and anger that nearly screamed, _what the fuck are you doing away from the apartment? We had an agreement!_

“Are you unharmed?”

“I’m fine,” Tony put both hands on Ronon’s chest and tried to calm him. “I’m fine. _We’re_ fine. We’re _all_ fine.”

Ronon dropped his gaze and placed one hand protectively over the Bump. He studied zyr face once more.

“Are you sure? I was told there was an accident, and you fell. Let’s go see Doc Xander and make sure.”

Tony put zyr hand over Ronon’s. “We’re fine, I promise.”

“How?” the high priestess demanded. She pinned each of them in turn with her furious gaze. “How is this possible? The entire galaxy knows the kysra are gone.”

“I was in hiding. Ronon came to that planet and somehow found me.” Tony offered her a careful smile. “I think the Old Ones meant for him to find me. No one else had ever come to that place to look.”

The priestess whirled to face the others and demanded, “This is true?”

“Yes. I was on the same planet when Tony was there, but I never saw zyr until Ronon introduced us.”

Tony could admire John’s neat little spin-doctoring. No need to make anyone think there were more kysra they could go get.

The priestess—whose name Tony _still_ didn’t know—studied John and Carter, then turned back and studied Tony for long enough that it made zyr want to ask Atlantis to beam Ronon and zyr out of there.

Finally, she ordered, “You will come to Verubriga five days hence. You will come: you, your mate, and your leader. If the other tanricu also believe you are kysra, then Verubriga will trade with the Lanteans. We will hunt for you; we will teach you to make the best use of the aknata; we will be your sisters. As I say, so it shall be.”

Tony dug zyr fingers into Ronon’s arm when zy could tell he was going to object.

“Thank you for the offer, High Priestess. Does this please my leader as well, Colonel Carter?”

Though she was put on the spot, Colonel Carter didn’t flinch.

“I am happy to accept your offer, High Priestess Faerl. I must ask that none outside of the three, rather, the six of you learn about Tony before we make our visit. Our peoples have a common enemy who would like nothing better than to find out such information.”

“The Wraith,” Faerl hissed. The three tanricu growled menacingly at the word. “Yes, as you say, let it be. We six Verubriganians will speak of this to no one. Swiftscream and I will wait at the Ring to receive you ourselves when you arrive.”

“Then I am pleased to accept your offer, High Priestess,” Tony said.

Zy leaned in slightly and lowered zyr voice. Zy knew zy wasn’t saying anything the others wouldn’t be able to hear, but the idea was to connect with the priestess on a subconscious level to make her think she had Tony’s confidence.

“I will tell you another secret: this city is Atlantis, but our people are the Satedans. If you are our sisters, then you are sisters to Sateda reborn.”

A slow smile curled Faerl’s lips, a fierce joy lighting her eyes.

“Then let it be so, let us be sisters, Kysra.”

*~*~*~*

After escorting the six Verubriganians to the gate, Colonel Carter took one look at Tony and Ronon and dismissed them, saying she’d speak to them later. Ronon grunted at her, and Tony could tell it was because he was so furious he was beyond words.

Zy allowed Ronon to guide zyr with a hand on zyr back into the transporter, where they were immediately transported home by an abnormally silent Atlantis. No matter how furious, Ronon’s touch was careful, which was something different from anyone else Tony had ever pissed off in the past.

As soon as they stepped out of the transporter, Tony turned to Ronon and opened zyr mouth to apologize.

“No,” Ronon snapped.

He closed his eyes and held up one hand. When he opened his eyes, he took a breath and managed to actually form words that didn’t sound like they’d been dragged out from behind his teeth with a crane hook and the Jaws of Life.

“Tony, you know how you tell me what you need, and I do whatever it is?”

Tony nodded warily.

“What I need is you to let me be really fucking pissed off for a while. I need to hit something and get through being angry, and then I need to sit down and talk with you. I need you to be within sight for a while too. Can you live with all that?”

“Yea—” Tony cleared zyr throat. “Yeah. I can do that.”

“Okay.” Ronon touched his hand to Tony’s waist and directed zyr in front of him. “Workout room.”

The workout room had been Atlantis’ gift to Ronon on his birthday. It was a room with a weight machine, a kickboxers heavy bag, an stationary bike, and two treadmills so Tony and Ronon could run together without going outside if they didn’t want to. The heavy bag was what Ronon went to after doing a quick-n-dirty tape job on his hands.

Atlantis silently transported Tony’s track pants, t-shirt, socks, and running shoes beside zyr. Tony didn’t want to just sit there, so zy took the hint and changed quickly, then started one of the treadmills. Zy knew Ronon would be able to see zyr reflection in the mirror-like substance that made up the walls, and he’d be able to hear the treadmill and Tony’s footfalls on it to know zy was still there. Tony had already done zyr usual six miles that morning, so zy set the speed to a little faster than zyr normal walk and let zyrself zone out.

There was a part of zyr that was frustrated at the circumstances because it was just a damned tablet! It wasn’t like Tony had been running around trying to get into the locked labs or searching out the Lorains on purpose. Zy hadn’t been trying to do something stupid, like lurking around the conference room where they were having talks. Zy had taken care to stick to the back ways, and zy honestly hadn’t thought zy would run into anyone much less a fucking _tour_!

Yeah, Atlantis had said she was doing something, but really? Wasn’t she aware of the city all the time? Why the hell had she not alerted zyr that there was a big-ass tanricu and her even bitchier human counterpart headed Tony’s way?

Then there was another part of zyr that understood why Ronon was so angry. That part knew what they’d discussed and felt guilty for putting zyrself in a dangerous situation unnecessarily. That part of zyrself was tempted to set the treadmill to zyr fastest speed and force zyrself to run until zy felt like zy had been punished enough, but Tony really was trying to work past the urges zy sometimes got to punish zyrself, hence the slightly fast walk.

As it was, it took over an hour of Ronon beating the shit out of the heavy bag. Tony had no doubt he would have seriously bruised hands.

When Ronon finally stopped, he steadied the bag with his hands and leaned his forehead on it, panting. He’d lost his shirt only minutes into his unplanned workout, and sweat had soaked his hair and was dripping from his face and body, making his skin glow golden. His chest was still heaving as he slowly regained his breath.

Once he was calmer, he straightened up and turned to where Tony had shut off the treadmill and was standing beside it, watching Ronon silently, zyr whole body tense with anxiety.

“Come, m’kysra.” Ronon held out a still-taped hand. “Please come shower with me.”

Tony silently moved to Ronon’s side and took his sweaty hand. They walked to the bathroom and stripped off their clothing in silence, Ronon ripping off and disposing of the tape on his hands. Having showered with Ronon enough to know what zyr husband liked, Tony let him wet himself and his hair, then zy held up the shampoo bottle Ronon liked best, raising both eyebrows in question.

Ronon nodded and closed his eyes, standing perfectly still as Tony lathered his hair, massaging the herbal-scented shampoo into the roots and then guiding Ronon under the spray so zy could rise it out. Zy repeated the action with the conditioner, spending quite a long time massaging it into Ronon’s scalp and the ends of his hair.

When zy was finished rinsing out the conditioner, Tony was a little at a loss. Zy had never dealt with a lover who was angry at zyr, silent, yet wanted zyr near him. Zy started to step back, but Ronon caught zyr with his hands at zyr waist. He stepped in and brought their bodies together, his hands sliding around zyr back, one down to cup zyr ass, and the other up to the middle of zyr back.

Tony closed zyr eyes and leaned in, resting zyr head on Ronon’s shoulder. Zy could feel Ronon resting his cheek against Tony’s head. It was a familiar position, a loving embrace they had shared so many times before, but this time it felt like there was an open wound between them. Tony didn’t know how to fix it.

“I’m sorry,” zy whispered, barely audible over the spray of the water.

“I know,” Ronon murmured back. “Me too.”

Ronon heaved a tired sigh. “Let’s get dressed and grab something to eat.”

“I’m really not hungry.” Tony was pretty sure zy would puke if zy tried to eat anything.

“Okay. Later for that, then.”

Letting go caused an almost physical pain, but Tony sucked it up and forced zyrself to do it.

Dried off and in what Ronon called ‘soft clothes,’ they settled together on their bedroom sofa, both sitting sideways with one leg under them so they could face each other.

Ronon reached out and took Tony’s hand where zy was scraping at zyr thumb with zyr second finger.

Tony looked up and searched his eyes. “Can we talk about it now?”

“Yeah,” Ronon immediately agreed. “I’m sorry I was…like I was when we came back. I was just so mad I knew I’d say something stupid I didn’t mean, and I’d hurt you. I wasn’t trying to give you silent treatment or whatever it is they joke about on those TV shows; I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I know that. I knew it when you said you needed to be mad for a while.” Tony tightened zyr fingers around his.

“Can you—Do you understand why I was so mad?”

Tony closed zyr eyes in shame, but forced zyrself to open them again when zy replied, “Yes, I know, Ronon. Despite all our talking, I left the apartment anyway.”

“Kind of,” Ronon hedged. “You broke our agreement, and that’s frustrating because I thought we were, what’s the saying? On the same book?”

“On the same page.”

“Yeah, that. I thought we both felt the same way. Did I misunderstand? Did I not hear something you were trying to say when we talked about it before?”

Tony shook zyr head. “No, I agreed with what we decided.”

Ronon frowned and pushed his hair back with his hands, rolling his shoulders, and then reaching for Tony’s hand again.

“Then I guess I don’t understand. When I left, I thought we both decided we wanted to keep the secret of kysra being alive as long as we could. Then the next thing I know, Atlantis is freaking out and telling me that you’re in the central city and literally had run into one of the Lorains, and you both fell. I made her show me what happened, and Tony....”

Ronon let go of Tony’s hand to scrub both hands over his own face.

“By the Old Ones, Tony. You came so close to death, and you didn’t even see it. I still don’t think you see what would’ve happened if the tanricu hadn’t suddenly decided you were interesting.”

Tony was surprised that Ronon thought zy’d been in so much danger.

Ronon made a noise that could only be called a laugh if it had been dragged face-down through a gravel pit before being released from his throat.

“You still don’t know. Tony, m’kysra, that priestess’ knife was known as an assassin’s blade on former Sateda. She had it low and aimed perfectly at your ribs. She would have slipped the blade between your ribs, into your heart, and you’d have been dead before you’d even realized what had happened.”

Tony’s jaw dropped. Zy’d thought when the priestess had lowered the knife that she had decided zy wasn’t a threat and that she wasn’t going to hurt zyr.

“Those priestesses aren’t like your Earth religious people, m’kysra. Most of them would be what your Earth warriors call black belts, and the best, like the priestess you ran into, are bodyguards for the High Priestess. Part of their job is to protect her from any and all threats, which means they do everything from throwing themselves on an explosive for her to assassinating an enemy. She was going to kill you and look you in the eye while she did it.”

Tony opened zyr mouth to reply, then closed it and swallowed several times.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

Ronon sighed again and reached for Tony. Zy gratefully turned over zyr shaking hands to him to hold.

“I don’t—I didn’t—Why didn’t Atlantis take me away? She said she was going to.”

The simple statement couldn’t begin reflect Tony’s conflicted feelings on the matter. Zy had gotten so used to counting on Atlantis, to feeling safe no matter what because she could just beam zyr out of trouble if it happened. Zy didn’t doubt zyr own skills, but there had been times that zy hadn’t taken Wolfe or any other backup when confronting someone because zy had counted on her to be zyr backup. It would’ve been nice to know she wouldn’t always be able to do that.

//Tony, I wanted to. While we were talking about finding your tablet, I was filling one of the ZedPMs. It requires most of my focus and energy to do that, which is why I asked you to wait. Even so, I thought that if I kept an awareness of where you were, then I’d be able to warn you of any danger in advance. I—I overestimated my own abilities, and then I could not stop what I was doing to remove you from the situation. If I had released my concentration on the ZedPM, the singularity I was harnessing would have caused the destruction of this reality as well as the alternate reality connected on the other side.//

Worry about backup was replaced with horror that their entire reality could’ve been destroyed.

“That would have been extremely bad,” zy croaked.

//Yes. All life, including yours, Ronon’s, and the kyta’s would have been lost,// Atlantis agreed, oblivious to Tony’s inner turmoil. //As it was, I became distracted enough that I had to release the singularity in order to speak to Ronon and then to transport him to you once you were interacting with the high priestess.//

“Oh shit. Is everything okay? I mean, we’re still here, but what about…?”

//Yes, but I will need to do much clean-up in the Between before I can attempt to harness another singularity, and that crystal is irrevocably damaged.//

Tony flinched before closing zyr eyes again. “So you’re telling me that my fuck-up cost us a ZedPM.”

“No, not directly,” Ronon objected. “You weren’t the one doing potentially dangerous work without telling anyone.”

Atlantis was silent, which said everything.

Fuck. Rodney had told Tony about Atlantis’ dark room and the ZedPMs she was growing there. He’d explained enough that even without a physics background, Tony understood that the ZedPMs could be the answer to not just the shields on Atlantis, but clean energy and the protection of planet Earth from whatever megalomaniacal foes were still in the Milky Way.

Tony’s actions had cost them one of those precious crystalline shells, plus nearly led to the annihilation of their entire reality. Zy wanted to puke. Zy actually had to swallow several times against the rising bile to keep from doing so right there.

“I am so sorry,” zy whispered when zy could speak again.

“I know,” Ronon murmured back, just as he had in the shower. “It’s a mistake, and I forgive you, which I’m saying because I know you need to hear it before you’ll forgive yourself. I wanna work through this. I want both of us to be able to walk away and not feel as crappy as we do right now.”

“I’m not sure how to do that. I mean, I fucked up, Ronon. One impulsive decision, and the kyta and I almost died twice over, I distracted Atlantis while she was doing something really fucking important, and I have to go off-planet, which I know you and Atlantis both hate, and it’s not to proven allies this time. I don’t know how you can even forgive me for being so fucking _stupid_!”

Tony’s voice had risen to a yell, and zy yanked zyr hands back, putting them over zyr face and leaning over zyr lap to try to breathe.

A heartbeat later, and zy felt Ronon nudging zyr knee down so he could sit beside zyr, his big hand coming down to rub zyr back soothingly.

“Just breathe with me: In…. Out….”

Ronon continued the pattern, helping Tony get a grip on zyr breathing and zyr emotions. After several minutes, Tony was calmer, so Ronon pulled zyr into his side. Zy curled zyrself under his arm, letting him cuddle zyr.

“I think this is because of another misunderstanding,” Ronon said finally.

“What?”

“I think that even though we talked about it, and you thought you were happy to work from home while I trained people in the gym today, there’s still a part of you that felt like I was trying to control you. Maybe you felt like I was treating you like a child, like someone who is weak and needs protection. You’ve told me about the people who forbid you to do things and say it’s because they’re afraid of what I’ll do to them, as if you can’t decide for yourself.”

“I don’t….”

Tony stopped to think about it. If zy had really thought it through, would zy have gone, or would zy have asked Atlantis to just get the stupid tablet? It wasn’t even like zy absolutely had to have it to keep working. Zy had just wanted it, and zy had wanted to be the one to go get it.

“Maybe. It’s not something I thought consciously though, or I’d have said it.”

“Okay. Do you feel like I’m overprotective? Do you feel like I try to control you other times?”

“Not usually,” Tony said slowly, thinking about it as zy spoke. “You trust me to do my job on a daily basis, but we really haven’t had anything happen where you felt like you had to protect me, have we?”

Ronon nearly choked. “M’kysra, I have to fight to keep from being overprotective _every day_. If I went with what my fears wanted me to do, I’d have you bundled in the apartment and never let anyone in who might pose a danger to you. I’d talk to every person in the city and figure out a way to know if they’d ever had a bad thought about you, and I’d kick those people out. I’d make sure your clothes were the best, softest material. I wouldn’t even let Teyla teach you to fight with the bantos because she might accidentally hurt you. I’d—well, I’d smother you. I’d be totally crazy, and I know it.”

Tony was shocked. Zy’d had no idea.

“I don’t do any of those things because I know it would kill who you are. When I’m not thinking crazy, I love that you’re independent and strong, that you can protect yourself and want to learn how to protect yourself better, like with the lessons from Teyla. I don’t want to change who you are, but there are times when I wish I could help you see that it’s okay for us to protect each other.”

“Give me a second,” Tony requested.

They were silent for a while as Ronon smoothed his hand over Tony’s back, and zy let zyrself think about zyr motives. Zy really had thought it was a spur of the moment thing, but had zy resented staying in the apartment? Zy had worked from home other days just because it was more convenient, and zy’d been perfectly happy with it. It wasn’t like they had decided zy would do something totally out of character. Had zy gone out just to prove zy could? Zy honestly didn’t know.

Eventually, zy said, “So you weren’t pissed because I left the apartment as much as you were that we decided something together, and then I did the opposite and ended up almost getting hurt.”

“Yeah, that’s it exactly. We talked about it as soon as we knew the Lorains were coming to the city, and I promised to stay in the gym and the mess hall in the West Pier for the day. I called Sheppard to make sure they weren’t going to take the Lorains in that part of the city at all. You agreed to work from home because they wouldn’t be coming to this pier either, plus you’d have the additional protection of the shield around the tower in case the tanricu decided to go flying.”

Tony could see now that Ronon had done his best to make them equally secluded. He just couldn’t do his work from the apartment, and Tony could because zy’d planned to work on reports and more drafting of the city’s laws.

“But then I took off and went into the central city.”

“At least if you’d told me, maybe I could’ve met you and walked with you, and then we could’ve gone to the West Pier mess hall for supper, or gone to harass McKay, since nobody in their right mind would take people to meet McKay if they wanted them to keep liking us.”

Tony huffed and rolled zyr eyes.

“M’kysra, we call each other and meet up for no reason all the time when we _don’t_ have strangers on the city. At least if we’d been together, we both would’ve been taking the chance of running into the Lorains and tanricu. We could have checked with Atlantis to make sure she wasn’t doing anything that could explode the solar system, too.”

“To be fair, we didn’t know we needed to check with her on that.”

“True, which is why I’m pissed at her. She should have told us there would be times she can’t help us. I’ve counted on her a lot to protect us both, so I’m not sure what to think now that I know there will be times she can’t.”

//I _am_ sorry,// Atlantis’ voice was sorrowful. //I will notify you from now on when I plan to fill one of the ZedPMs. At the very least, I will choose a different day when it is not the first time a new people are within my structure.//

“You should also notify Rodney or establish some other protocol for when you’re performing dangerous tasks.” Tony paused and sighed heavily. “I think growing up without anybody who cared about where I was or what I was doing fucked me up more than I thought.”

Ronon studied zyr before slowly saying, “I think you understand that I love you, but I don’t think you love or value yourself.” Ronon put his palm over zyr heart. “I think sometimes love that could or even should make you feel safe just makes you feel trapped.”

That statement left Tony blinking back shock as zy heard echoes of every person in zyr life who’d thought zy was a worthless fuck-up. There were no loving voices to drown them out or even balance them.

Tony gave a choked-off laugh. “Ronon, you are literally the only person in my life who has ever said he loves me and hasn’t tried to use it to control me.”

Ronon only nodded, his expression grave. “I know. You changed your entire life, gave up everything you knew to move to an unknown place with a man you’d met hours before. That’s not something someone would do if zy is well-loved and secure in that love.”

Tony flushed and lowered zyr gaze.

“I knew you were wounded in a way that had never healed, but so am I,” Ronon continued in a gentle yet unyielding tone. “I knew it would be easy to love you, and it is, even when it hurts because you push back to make sure the love isn’t a trap. I think that we will heal each other, but it will take time. In the meantime, we have to talk more, get better at saying things so we don’t catch each other off guard like this.”

Tony looked back up, green eyes meeting hazel. “We’ve talked about me and what I need. What about you?”

Ronon licked his lips, worried lines forming between his brows. “I need…. I need to feel like I protect you. I’ve failed at protecting everyone else I’ve loved, so I need to feel like I do that for you. I need to feel like you trust me enough to tell me when you feel trapped instead of protected.”

Tony thought about that. It made sense, really. Ronon was terrified of losing Tony and their kyta, so he wanted to protect them from everything. He was doing pretty great at being rational about it, really, like making it clear to other people that he didn’t control Tony’s decisions, and talking to Tony to make sure that they came to a compromise together rather than demanding zy do something.

It wasn’t like he had ever stopped zyr from confronting suspects or going after people who could be dangerous. It was only when Tony had left after they had made a decision together that Ronon was angry. Even then, it felt to Tony like the anger was more fear at what could have happened than anger at zyr. If zy had truly been furious with zyr, then no amount of time kicking and punching a heavy bag would have calmed him.

“Okay. I’ll try to be better. I’ll try to at least realize when I’m feeling confined or whatever. If it’s something like today where I get the impulse to go do something we’ve agreed I won’t, I’ll at least have Atlantis call you so you can meet me, like you said.”

“That’s all I ask.” Ronon nodded, the worry lines fading.

“I’ll try to remember to ask why the situation is so dangerous, too,” Tony added. “Maybe if I’d understood that those priestess women are _assassins_ , I wouldn’t have had the idea that I should go get my tablet myself. It was taking a stupid chance, even if I thought I’d avoid them. I know better than to think my luck works like that.”

Ronon leaned in and kissed zyr forehead.

“Don’t. Stop beating yourself up. It’s done, and it turned out okay.” He smiled weakly. “You got to meet a tanricu—three of them!—up close, so it’s not all bad, right?”

Tony huffed and all but climbed into Ronon’s lap.

“Oddly enough, I am completely cured of any desire to see them up close ever again. That was enough for me.”

“Yeah, well we have to go to the planet in five days, after that you won’t have to see them ever again.”

“Thank the Old Ones,” Tony breathed.

Ronon wrapped his arms around zyr, and Tony was quite content to hold and be held for a while.

*~*~*~*

_Chernday, YangHui 12, First Year of the Returned  
(May 12, 2008)_

Sam was relieved they weren’t scheduled to head to Verubriga until after the weekly databurst had gone through. She was hoping to have something more than she’d previously gotten from the sniffer program she’d written, but first she wanted to read the letter from the IOA. Better to get that over with rather than have it hanging over her head the rest of the day.

She quickly decrypted the message and skimmed through it. Once she had finished, Sam very carefully did not throw her computer off the desk or repeatedly pound her head on a nearby wall. Nor did she voice any of the profanity that was running through her brain. She wasn’t normally a person who resorted to straight out cussing, but she thought this called for it.

She made a fist on the desk, then consciously forced herself to relax her hands and her shoulders. Giving herself a migraine wasn’t going to help anyone.

It seemed that the IOA wasn’t satisfied with sending Woolsey to Atlantis. No, they also wanted to interview Teyla and Ronon in person. As glad as she was that she wouldn’t have to deal with the entire IOA board at once, she really didn’t understand why Woolsey couldn’t interview the two ‘aliens,’ as the message put it, then forward the report to the rest of the IOA. That must have been too easy. They’d rather Sam send both Pegasus natives to Earth for an interview that would last an indeterminate length of time. “Until our questions are answered to our satisfaction,” was the way the message had worded it.

That kind of wording gave Sam a headache. She found herself tapping her short, functional fingernails on the arms of her chair.

Who knew what lengths the Trust would go to in order to get ahold of the two while they were on Earth? Also, who was to say the IOA wouldn’t just dump them in a black site somewhere and dispose of what they saw as a problem? Sam was going to have to do a lot of fancy footwork to show how useful Teyla and Ronon were without making it look like she leaned too heavily on any of their opinions or advice. She’d have to go back through all her reports that mentioned either one and make sure what she meant and nothing else could be read into them. If something else could be read into what she’d said, Sam was going to have to add supplemental clarifications to the initial reports.

It was going to be a long and arduous task when she had so many other things to do! There was also a long, ridiculously in-depth report for Sam to fill out on both of them. Because of course there was. Though how she could possibly know if they had indicated preference for any particular sport, and if so, which country nation and team they favored was beyond her.

Sam gave up and dug into her desk drawer for her little stress ball. Well, it wasn’t a ball. It was actually a squishy stress object shaped like a well-known person. Finding and buying her the entire set of Newton, Einstein, and Curie was actually one of the nicest things Rodney McKay had ever done for her. It was particularly satisfying to squish Einstein’s spiky hair into his spongy head when she was frustrated.

The only good thing was the IOA didn’t want Teyla and Ronon sent back on the _Daedalus_ , which would’ve meant weeks of travel each way in addition to the time on Earth. Instead, they were to be the first human guinea pigs to make the journey from Atlantis to Earth through the gate Bridge once the rest of the testing was complete. The IOA felt it was important that all their questions were addressed as soon as possible, so they weren’t willing to wait for Woolsey to ask his questions, send back his responses, then wait for a new batch of questions. Teyla and Ronon were to face the entire advisory committee all at once because of multiple concerns about the alien influence on the mission as well as the agendas and allegiances of said aliens.

Oh, but at least they finally acknowledged Tony was supposed to be on the city. Carter was supposed to send ‘the delt’ back too so ‘he’ could be properly debriefed and interviewed. The questions on the report she was supposed to complete on Tony…well, some of them made her want to blush, and some made her want to declare herself an Asgard and completely disavow any knowledge of Earth’s stupidity when it came to the kysra gender.

One thing Sam could be certain of: Ronon was going to kill them all, and she couldn’t really blame him. His temperament was nothing like Teal’c’s, and even _he_ had struggled.

Sam stilled, taken by the thought.

Who better to help Teyla and Ronon prepare for that kind of interview than Teal’c? He had been before the IOA and several obnoxious scientists and senators, and he always managed to keep his cool. He was also tough enough and different enough that he didn’t scream _Earther,_ so Ronon might be more likely to accept his advice.

Sam dropped squishy-Einstein back in the drawer, pulled up a new document, and began typing:

_Dear Teal’c,_

_It’s been far too long since I’ve seen you. I couldn’t possibly get away right now, but how would you feel about coming to Atlantis? It’s an incredible place, and I think…._

*~*~*~*

Tony let Ronon adjust the fit of zyr tac vest for the tenth time. Zy didn’t complain, though. Zy knew Ronon was scared shitless about going to Verubriga. Tony wasn’t exactly feeling confident about it zyrself.

“They’re not going to be offended by all the weapons we’re carrying?”

“No,” Sgt. Major Wolfe grunted. “Still no.”

Yeah, okay. So Tony might have asked that question a few times before. Zy was nervous. It wasn’t every day zy was presented to a bunch of not-wyvern so they could verify zyr gender and gravid state. And it wasn’t like the entire trade agreement with the only planet with a sufficient amount of meat to save them from starving to death completely rested on Tony’s shoulders or anything.

Okay, maybe that was hyperbole, but hadn’t it just been awesome when Ronon had gotten permission from Carter to tell zyr how serious the food shortage problem really was?

John ambled over, an irritated Rodney following.

“What’s the holdup?”

“Yes. Why are we just standing around? I know Cave-Dex checked your vest at least three other times, probably more that I didn’t see. Can we please get on with this? I haven’t had not-buffalo burger in over a month. I’m dying here!”

“Rodney,” John growled, side-eyeing Rodney to tell him to shut up.

“It’s fine,” Tony said, trying to give them a reassuring smile. From their reactions, zy must be out of practice. “No, really. Let’s go, guys.”

“You’ll stay beside me?” Ronon asked quietly as they moved out of the locker room toward the Gateroom.

Shifting zyr P90, Tony reached over and squeezed his hand. “Yes, I promise I will do my absolute best to stay beside you.”

“’kay.” Ronon squeezed back, then released zyr.

The others were waiting for them in the staging area. Jamie McNamara grinned at zyr from where she was standing with her team. AR-4 watched them approach, but Tony couldn’t read them other than to know the team leader, Major Anne Teldy, looked calm and collected. Well, that made sense. She’d been to Verubriga more than a dozen times already.

“Let’s get this show on the road, people!” John called out.

The teams obligingly settled themselves into some kind of order, with Tony and Rodney in the more protected positions. AR-4 was in the front, since they were the ones the people of the planet knew. John, Rodney, and Carter were next, with Wolfe, Tony, and Ronon directly behind them. Teyla and Jamie were directly behind them.

Jamie moved up behind Tony. “Hey, got your six,” she murmured. “You’re not going to need it, but I got ya anyway.”

Tony gave her a grateful smile over zyr shoulder and caught Teyla’s reassuring nod too.

The two younger guys on Jamie’s team were behind her with Major Jordan slightly behind them, watching all their sixes.

The gate started to light up, and Tony swallowed nervously. This would be zyr third time through the giant ring, but only the second walking through. The other time zy had been in a jumper, and zy hadn’t even noticed. They couldn’t use the flying machines, as the high priestess had called them, since they would frighten or anger the tanricu and possibly upset the aknata herds and cause them to stampede.

All that meant to Tony was that if the Wraith came, zy was seriously fucked if zy couldn’t run back to the gate. For all zyr talk of not wanting to be confined, zy wouldn’t have minded a little cuddling and pampering at that moment.

The not-puddle formed, and Major Teldy said, “Let’s move.”

Tony couldn’t accurately describe the sensation of going through the gate. It was weird and made zyr a little dizzy, but it wasn’t anything like the discomfort of going from the Stargate in Cheyenne Mountain to the one in Atlantis. Zy figured distance had something to do with it. Maybe zy would have Rodney tell zyr what made the difference someday if zy wanted to exasperate Rodney and make zyrself feel especially stupid.

Tony looked around curiously once the gate was closed behind Jordan. Zy was surprised by how Earth-like it looked. There were trees, and a blue sky, and it actually felt closer to being on Earth than it did when they were on Atlantis.

Major Teldy was moving forward toward the person and tanricu waiting for them. Tony could tell instantly that it was the high priestess, just as she’d said it would be. No doubt the bodyguard priestesses were around somewhere, just out of sight.

Teldy’s team separated, two on each side like they had done when they’d introduced the important people when they’d come to Atlantis. John and Carter moved forward. High Priestess Faerl greeted them, then looked at the rest of the group expectantly.

“High Priestess,” Carter addressed her. “As you asked, we’ve brought Kysra Tony, zyr mate, and those who chose to act as bodyguards if there should be a threat from our mutual enemy.”

Tony swallowed, zyr tongue dry in zyr mouth.

“Kysra Tony,” Faerl greeted.

“High Priestess,” Tony returned. “This is my mate, Ronon Dex. It is his heart that beats in my chest as mine beats in his.”

Zy had gotten that wording from zyr crash courses with Jamie. By saying that they had essentially traded hearts, Tony was giving Ronon’s life equal status with zyr own and saying that any harm done to him would be as harm done to zyr. It was the best protection zy could give to zyr mate on a planet that didn’t place much value on a man’s life.

The high priestess gave zyr a sly smile, as if she understood exactly why zy had said what zy had.

“Very well. His life shall be honored as we would one of our windsisters.”

Tony smiled, finally able to breathe.

“I thank you. It is my hope that we will be sisters before I must return home.”

Faerl gave zyr an outright grin.

“That is my hope, too, Kysra. Shall we proceed?”

“Let it be as you say,” Tony replied.

The high priestess turned and began to walk toward the tree line. Her tanricu, Swiftscream, sprang up from the ground, spreading her wings and buffeting them all with grass and dirt before she was in the air.

Tony couldn’t help but watch as the creature soared into the cloudless sky.

Zy stumbled, and Ronon and Wolfe caught zyr by the elbows, righting zyr again.

Faerl had heard the stumble and turned, raising one dark brow.

“Are you well, Kysra?”

“Yeah, Yes.” Zy cleared zyr throat, then continued, allowing zyr awe to come through in zyr tone. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never seen anything like that. I couldn’t look away from her, so I tripped. She’s stunning.”

The high priestess’ chin lifted proudly as she smiled again. “Yes, she is. Let us resume.”

“As you say, High Priestess.”

They continued walking for what felt like forever. Unlike when Tony had gone to New Athos, it was a silent, tense journey. Zy could hear things high up in the trees. They jumped from tree to tree, so Tony assumed they were more tanricu that were following—or maybe escorting—them to the village. The only thing that made the journey bearable was having Ronon at zyr side. Jamie moved up close enough to get zyr attention and gave zyr a subtle nod and thumbs-up, which helped too.

The settlement was well-hidden, and they were upon it before Tony realized it was there. The dwellings were spaced out a lot more than the ones in New Athos had been. They were also more disguised and nearly blended in with the forest itself. Faerl lead them to a large, open area at the very center. By that time, what had to have been most of the population had stopped whatever they were doing to surround the central space, though there was still a good fifteen to twenty feet on all sides between their group and any of the curious watchers.

The high priestess tipped her head back and made a piercing, ululating noise.

The entire forest seemed to come alive. Abruptly there were tanricu dropping from the sky and the treetops all around them, and they were all obviously aiming for exactly where Tony and zyr group was standing.

“Down!” Ronon ordered harshly.

Tony hated it, but it had been what zy had agreed to. Zy went down to one knee and let Ronon, Wolfe, John, Teyla and Carter surround and protect zyr.

Under the cacophony, Tony could hear Faerl laughing.

Zy clenched zyr jaw. If she got them all killed, zy was going to figure out how to do that ascending thing so zy could come back and haunt her ass.

It felt like forever, but the noise died down but for snorting, grunting sounds from the creatures zy could see through the others’ legs.

“They will not harm you,” Faerl said, sounding far too amused.

“It would have been nice to have a little warning, High Priestess,” Carter said tactfully. “We mean no disrespect, but you know we’re not used to the tanricu, and they are intimidating.”

“Your forgiveness, Colonel Carter. I had to see whom you would protect. Now I know.”

Ronon reached down and helped Tony up with a hand under zyr arm. Zy brushed off zyr pants and looked for the high priestess. Immediately, zy wanted to punch her in her smug face. Tony knew zy wasn’t the only one clenching zyr jaw and holding back the impulse, even with the rainbow of tanricu surrounding them and the humans who had ventured forth among them.

Dark eyes full of amusement and challenge, Faerl told Tony, “Do come out from behind your protectors. If you are as you say, none here will harm you.”

Tony straightened zyr spine and lifted zyr chin. Zy started forward only to feel Ronon grab zyr elbow.

Right. Zyr promise.

Zy smiled at him and said, “Come with me, my heart, for wherever I am safe, you are also, just as High Priestess Faerl has already sworn.”

Ronon didn’t make a verbal response, but Tony could see the relief in his eyes. He hadn’t been kidding about needing to feel like he was protecting zyr.

None of their group looked particularly happy, but they allowed Tony and Ronon through. Carter took up Tony’s other side and walked forward with them.

“You remember Swiftscream.”

The iridescent tanricu came forward at her name, as though eager to see Tony again.

She lowered her head, and Tony tentatively touched her between the thick ridges above her eyes. “Hi, Swiftscream. You remember me, right? You liked me and didn’t want to eat me at all. No ketchup, remember?”

Swiftscream was taking in huffing breaths. She pulled her head back, her long neck moving sinuously as she looked around, then darted forward, mouth open. There was no way Tony could be fast enough to block her, nor would zyr fragile, human bones have made any difference.

Several people yelled, but Swiftscream had already grasped ahold of Tony’s vest and made quick work of ripping off one of the pockets, sending Tony to zyr knees with the force.

She raised her head and screeched in indignation that the vest was still in place, or so Tony assumed.

Hearing more yelling and the distinct whine of Ronon’s weapon priming as well as the sound of P90s being raised and readied for action, Tony yelled,

“No! Don’t shoot her! I’m not hurt!” Zy set zyr P90 on the ground, rapidly unzipped the tac vest Ronon had so carefully fit to zyr earlier, dropping it on the ground as well.

“Hold!” John barked out.

Swiftscream snatched the vest in her jaws, and Tony again had to yell, “She’s not hurting me! I’m okay; don’t shoot!”

As Tony rose to zyr feet, Swiftscream shook the vest like a dog with a rope bone, then spit it out as if it had personally offended her, making a sound that was almost like garbled complaining.

When her head came back around, she snapped her jaws at Ronon and Wolfe, who had both moved in front of Tony.

“Guys, it’s okay. I think the vest was throwing off her sense of smell. It’ll be okay. No shooting, okay?”

“Weapons down,” John ordered, though he didn’t sound happy about it.

Ronon growled, sounding not unlike the tanricu. He moved to the side but stayed with his shoulder just in front of Tony’s. Wolfe glanced at him and followed his lead.

Swiftscream extended her neck again, huffing against Tony from neck to belly, where she stopped. Her eyelids drooped, and she made the same rumble-purr she had the first time she’d sniffed zyr up.

All the Lorains burst into excited whispers.

Tony glanced at Faerl. She was smiling smugly and looking around at her people.

Another tanricu came forward to stand next to Swiftscream. It was a different one, her back the color of the brightest summer sky fading down to a light blue that turned to a soft yellow on her belly.

Well, Tony assumed it was a she. It was the same size as Deathsbane and Stormclaw.

Swiftscream stepped to the side, allowing the new tanricu to get close enough to stretch out her neck and sniff Tony much the way she had done. She too made the rumble-purr sound, and then she nudged Tony.

Hands shaking, Tony gently put them on her head, stroking the smooth, blue armor plates.

“Wow. You’re really kind of gorgeous, even if you’re terrifying too, aren’t you?”

The tanricu sniffed zyr one more time, then cocked her head and moved to sniff Ronon.

“Yeah, that’s my mate,” Tony said, hoping zy didn’t sound like a complete nutjob for talking to the tanricu like she could understand.

Everybody was completely silent, the humans and tanricu alike holding their breath.

The blue tanricu took a step closer, her head edging between Ronon and Tony, so Tony stepped aside and let Wolfe prod zyr backward between himself and John, who had come up behind him.

With a great deal more patience than Swiftscream had displayed, the blue tanricu snuffled Colonel Carter, then opened her mouth to tug gently at her vest with the raptorial point of her snout.

“Take it off, Carter,” Tony whispered urgently. “They don’t like the smell. Take it off.”

Carter shot zyr an incredulous look, but she handed her P90 to Teyla and quickly stripped off the tac vest, letting Teyla take that as well.

The blue tanricu sniffed Carter all over, then she pressed the top of her head and bony ridges over her eyes against her chest. She made a rumble purr that escalated into a warbling sound.

“Oh!” Carter blinked and raised both hands to the tanricu’s face.

Tony glanced at John, then at Ronon. They were both giving Wolfe a shocked look that made Tony want to burst into laughter. The tanricu wasn’t making the ‘oh, look at you, nice baby-maker-human,’ rumble-purr. Whatever she was saying, that wasn’t it.

“Speak her name!”

Tony startled and turned back to the high priestess, about to say zy had no idea.

“Starsong,” Carter whispered. She was running her hands all over the tanricu’s head and neck, then onto her wing. The tanricu lifted the middle joint and extended the three taloned ‘fingers’ to Carter, who put her own hand in their grip as if they were holding hands. “She’s Starsong, and she’s mine.”

Faerl clapped her hands, laughing triumphantly.

“My people!” she shouted, both hands raised high above her head as if in benediction. “I bring before you Kysra Tony, confirmed by our windsisters to be carrying a kyta sired by zyr heart’s mate.”

That created such a stir that Faerl had to clap her hands several times and call for her people to be silent. Once they calmed, she continued.

“Not only do I bring you Kysra Tony, but I bring to you Colonel Samantha Carter. It is windsister Starsong, the eldest of us and one who has never chosen a sister of her own; it is _she_ who bonds our peoples together by choosing Samantha!”

Every single Lorain started to cheer or make that ululating sound.

Over the top of them, the high priestess shouted, “Let us celebrate! We shall feast, for we have new sisters among us!”

The cheering became completely _insane_ at that point, with even the tanricu joining in, throwing their heads back and making the roaring scream that zy had only heard from Swiftscream. It was so loud Tony’s ears were ringing.

Someone touched zyr back, and zy immediately knew it was Ronon. Zy looked up at him and gave him zyr very best innocent look.

Zy yelled, “Not my fault!”

“Yeah, you just keep tellin’ yourself that!” John shouted from zyr other side.

“Maybe Carter can leave her here?”

Ronon tilted his head and gave zyr a look like indicating that was the dumbest thing Tony had said all day. Which, okay, that was probably true.

Zy shrugged. “At least she’s not mine!”

Ronon snorted.

Tony sighed. So much for not having to see another tanricu ever again.

* * *

* * *

 

Swiftscream's color as Mair  
The polish is ILNP's _Tilted_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**_Interlude: Back on Earth_ **

“Pretty little thing, isn’t he?”

“Knock it off, Ben. You know damn well he’s not one of yours. His mother would kill us both if you laid a hand on him.”

Ben Saunders raised both hands in mock surrender.

“Just looking, not touching. Don’t get your panties in a wad.”

Aaron hunched his shoulders and wrapped his arms around himself. The way Ben was looking at him made him wish he had on layers and layers of winter sweaters instead of just a t-shirt and jeans.

“I could make a fortune off him,” Ben commented, his gaze traveling all over Aaron’s body.

Aaron shivered and swallowed thickly. Why wouldn’t Ray just let him leave? He’d made, served, and cleaned up lunch, but his step-father still wouldn’t let him go back to his room.

“Mm-mm-mm,” Ben hummed, like Aaron was a steak he was about to devour. He stalked closer.

Aaron tried to back away, but the cabinet was right behind him.

Ben smirked and tilted his head.

“No touching, but what about pictures?”

Ray looked up, both eyebrows raised. “Is there much money in that at his age?”

Ben chuckled and reached out to lift Aaron’s head with two fingers under his chin.

“Of course there is. Cheekbones to die for, right there. With the right play of light and shadow…. Well, it wouldn’t be as much as other things, but he’d sell to the right clients.” Ben taunted, “Wanna be a model, sweetheart?”

Aaron shook his head, twisting away from his Ben’s touch. He tried to curl into himself even further. His skin was crawling, and the thoughtful look Ray was giving him made his chest feel tight and his stomach sick.

“Aww, now don’t be like that, baby. With a face like yours, you could be a star.”

Aaron had never been so glad to hear his mom’s keys in the front door as he was at that moment.

Ben snapped his hand back and swiftly started back to the couch where Ray was channel surfing during the commercials.

Ray caught Aaron’s eye and mouthed, “Not. A. Word.”

When Aaron nodded—more a full-body shudder than a nod—he added at a normal volume, “Go to your room. Now.”

He could hear Ben chortling again as he fled up the stairs into his room and quietly shut the door behind him. He’d learned long ago not to slam any doors. _Ever_. He rubbed his left wrist at the memory of what had happened when he’d dared to do so one time and only one time. The pins holding his wrist together made his whole arm ache when it got too cold.

Leaning back against the door, Aaron slid to the floor and put his face in his hands as he shuddered once, then began to tremble in reaction. His step-father had hit him, hurt him before, but he’d never acted like he wanted anything like _that_. Aaron wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly what kind of pictures Ray’s brother wanted to take. He also knew it wouldn’t stay just pictures for very long.

He choked on a sob and wished his dad, his _real_ dad was there. Neither Ray or his super gross brother would dare to put a finger on Aaron if his dad was there. Too bad for Aaron, Logan Wolfe was on a secret mission somewhere, and Aaron knew he couldn’t tell him. He couldn’t worry him when there was no way Aaron’s mom would give up custody. It wasn’t like there was a family plan for super-secret Marine bases anyway.

No, Aaron would have to be tough, like his dad would want him to be. Just like with the bruises and broken wrist, Aaron knew his mom would never believe him even if he tried to tell her, and Ray had started monitoring his email, so he couldn’t tell his dad even if he wanted to, not now that he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere by himself except the daycare where he worked on weekends.

Aaron had to face the truth: he was alone, and there was no way out.

*~*~*~*

_Noetherday, YangHui 17, First Year of the Returned  
(May 17, 2008)_

Rodney didn’t know what to do.

When the Gate had been opened to Earth last week, he’d given in to his paranoia and essentially hacked the US government via the SGC. Atlantis had helped him, since they were also tracking down every kysra in the United States. From there, they would move on to other countries throughout the world, but that had to wait until the code had had a chance to start spreading.

Rodney didn’t really know what Atlantis planned to do with the information she was collecting, but he thought it was her business because the kysra were hers anyway. It’s not like the countries they were living in wanted them. Rodney might feel differently if their countries and families wanted them and were treating them like human beings instead of a plague on humanity.

That wasn’t what was worrying Rodney. What was making him pace his quarters, which Atlantis had moved to one of her newly completed buildings and were now a luxury condo with an outdoor infinity pool, was the information his and Atlantis’ hacking had pulled up for Tony.

Rodney had just wanted to make sure that Tony wasn’t in trouble with zyr former workplace. He knew that Tony had investments that somebody should be managing, so he wanted to make sure those were safe as well. What he’d found hadn’t been what he’d expected at all, and now he had to figure out a way to tell Tony.

“Atlantis? Is Tony busy?”

//Zy is completing reports on zyr computer.//

Hearing the answer in his mind was strange in one way, yet perfectly natural in another. It had only been four days since Atlantis had fixed him last Keplerday…after he’d thrown an epic fit the likes of which the science department hadn’t seen since Tony and zyr piano had arrived. It had been the only way to get the time off, which was his scheduled day off that he never got to take because people were stupid, and he always had to fix their mistakes.

Throwing a screaming fit that made people wonder if he was losing his mind had done what all the begging and pleading in the world wouldn’t have: it made everyone leave him alone for the whole time Atlantis had needed to make the changes and then to monitor him while he went through his Interim. They’d even left him alone long enough for her to keep him asleep for several hours, then while she’d continued to monitor him awake for several more hours. Rodney couldn’t remember the last time he’d had two entire days to himself.

If he was being honest, he had to admit he’d enjoyed the day he’d taken just to relax in his quarters and work on his own pet projects while chatting with Atlantis off-and-on. The only difficulty they’d had was when Atlantis had tried to Separate from him. It had been uncomfortable, even painful.

Atlantis had soothed him, //We will try another time, Rodney. Your mind is very lonely. It clings to me and does not wish to be Separate any longer.//

He had been a little embarrassed, but he hadn’t been upset. He’d been lonely his entire life, but now Rodney had Atlantis with him at all times quite literally. It was like sitting alone in a frigid, empty darkness, then suddenly being wrapped in a warm blanket and sitting in the most comfortable chair in front of a glowing fireplace with a purring cat on his lap.

It felt like coming home. Was it any wonder his mind clung to her?

Atlantis hadn’t minded at all. She’d said Ronon mostly ignored her, and Tony wanted to be Separate a lot of the time. She would be perfectly happy to remain Joined to Rodney 24/8. That’s the impression that Rodney got, anyway.

Jerking his thoughts back to the present, he asked, “Does that mean zy’s at home?”

//Yes.//

Rodney took a deep breath and blew out the air slowly.

“Would you ask zyr if zy minds if I come talk to zyr?”

There was a brief pause, then Atlantis replied, //Zy says you are always welcome, just don’t take zyr mood personally. Zy has been a ‘cranky bitch’ all day today.//

“Right, okay.”

Well, that wasn’t great news, but Tony had a right to know. Rodney didn’t think a brother would keep things like this from his ayah, and he was determined to do the right thing for Tony, even if it meant he got yelled at. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time someone had screamed at him for the information he’d uncovered.

Rodney scrubbed his hands over his face, gathered up his laptop so he could show Tony what he’d found, and headed out the door toward the transporter before he could change his mind. He could do this. He wasn’t good with people, but Tony liked him enough to call him friend and brother. Tony wouldn’t kill the messenger…he hoped.

Tony greeted him at the transporter into zyr apartment.

“You look like crap.”

Okay, so that probably hadn’t been the best thing he could’ve said, but it was true. Tony was leaning awkwardly against the wall, kind of hunched over like zy was in pain. There were blue circles under zyr eyes, and zy was in sweatpants and a ratty, old, Ohio State sweatshirt. Zyr normal sex-hair looked like zy hadn’t washed it or even tried to do anything with it since zy’d rolled out of bed.

Tony snorted. “Thanks. Just for that, you have to suffer through another hug.”

Zy proceeded to drape zyrself onto Rodney, and he pretended to hate it. He was actually very careful about the way he hugged zyr back, especially when zy all but sagged into him.

“Oh, for—Tony, I’m not a piece of walking furniture! Let’s get you somewhere you can lie down. I don’t think you should be working on city stuff on your day off anyway. Where the heck is your caveman? Does he know you look like you’ve been hit by a jumper?”

Tony made a growly noise in protest. Rodney heaved a long-suffering sigh and all but dragged zyr across the hall into the piano room and prodded zyr onto the sofa.

“Lie down. No, I’m serious. Shut up and lie down before I have Atlantis tell Ronon on you. Seriously, don’t you think I have enough to do?” Rodney kept up a mindless rant that kept Tony from objecting as he set down his laptop and prodded zyr onto the ridiculously comfortable sofa. “I bet Atlantis already said something about telling someone, but you’re too stubborn to let anyone know you feel like crap.”

Rather than being irritated, like most people would’ve been if Rodney had gone off on them, Tony just huffed a laugh. Rodney let out a disgusted noise.

“What, do you think it’s okay to take care of everyone else, but letting someone take care of you for once is unacceptable? Well, suck it up, buttercup; if you really didn’t want help, you shouldn’t have let me in,” Rodney continued, grabbing one of the throw pillows and that awesome brown blanket. “You’re an idiot. I don’t care if you are my ayah, you’re still an idiot.”

Once he had Tony situated like he wanted zyr, he sat down on the footstool—without any pain in his knees or back, ha!—and glared at zyr.

“Okay, so how sick are you, and do I need to call Doc Xander?”

“I’m fine, really.”

Tony shifted position, wincing as zy did.

Clearly, Rodney’s glaring powers were out of practice if Tony could shrug him off that easily. He was going to have to practice bitching out people in the labs. Maybe he’d go through a few of the next batches of research proposals before they went to committee. That level of stupidity ought to have him back in proper, terrifying form in no time.

“Do I _look_ like I fell off an Athosian harvest wagon earlier today? No, I didn’t think so. Either be honest with me, or I’m going to call Ronon _and_ Xander. You’ll be in the infirmary before you can say Mozart,” he said, snapping his fingers just to stress how short a time that really would be.

Tony groaned and rolled zyr eyes, rather melodramatic in Rodney’s opinion.

“Geez, you’re so damned bossy. How did I get to be best friends with somebody so bossy?”

“And yet I’m not distracted. What’s wrong with you? Last chance.”

“Nothing except I’m knocked up, and my body is trying to figure out what the hell I was thinking when I decided cooking up another person inside it was a good plan. It finally gave up on making me miserable through morning sickness—which is the dumbest name ever for something that lasts all damn day—and now it’s decided I should suffer through having my skeleton reshape itself to make room for the adorable little parasite.”

Rodney crossed his arms and set his jaw.

“No, I’m being honest now. I feel like shit, it’s true. I woke up kind of achy and then sat for way too long doing computer work before I decided I should get up and greet you at the transporter.”

//Zy is telling the truth, though zy is not telling you that zy did not shower because zy felt dizzy, and zy did not take a hot bath to soothe zyr ligaments because zy was afraid zy would get too relaxed and not be able to get out.//

Rodney hummed and narrowed his eyes. “So you’re feeling fine other than that? No shortness of breath, dizziness, weakness? No tingling or numbness in your hands or feet?”

Tony dropped zyr gaze. “Maybe a little dizziness, but nothing to bother anyone about, really. Just because getting pregnant is _normal_ doesn’t mean it’s _comfortable_.”

“How about pain in your left arm or shoulder?”

“I’m not having a heart attack, Rodney!”

Rodney stared for several seconds before he was convinced Tony was telling the truth. The idiot was terrible about telling someone when zy needed help, but zy didn’t actually lie outright when specifically asked.

“Fine.”

“ _Fine_. Does that mean I can get up now?”

Rodney glared again. “Does it feel better when you’re lying down?”

“…maybe….”

“Didn’t you just tell me you’d been sitting too long, and that’s what was making the pain worse?”

Tony made a ridiculous face.

“Then there’s your answer. If this isn’t comfortable, then we can move somewhere that’s better, but you’re not allowed to go sit in your desk chair at all for the rest of today.”

“Bossy,” zy grumbled yet again. “You and Ronon can be so bossy.”

It was Rodney’s turn to snort and roll his eyes.

“Right,” he retorted. “That’s why every time I come over here when Zelenka kicks me out of the labs, I end up falling asleep on this very sofa and losing _hours_ I could’ve been working. Because I’m the _only_ bossy person in this room.”

Atlantis giggled, which felt so weird Rodney had to scratch his head even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good. It was either that, or he’d sneeze.

“You might have a point.”

If Rodney hadn’t been able to see the shyly pleased grin, he’d have thought Tony was mad.

“I’m always right.”

“I said you might have a point, not that you’re right!” zy protested, but zyr smile grew.

Rodney waved zyr off. “Meh. It’s all the same thing in the end.”

Tony huffed, but zy tucked the blanket up under zyr chin. The pain lines around zyr eyes were lessened, so Rodney counted it a win. It was just a good thing Tony responded well to being brow-beaten, Rodney McKay style.

“Now that we’re done discussing my health _—please_ let us be done—what did you want to talk about? Atlantis mentioned you’d found out something you thought I should know.”

Rodney tensed, and from the way Tony immediately got a worried frown, zy saw it.

“Maybe we should watch a movie instead. We can talk about this stuff any day you’re feeling better.”

“Rodney.”

It was amazing that Tony and Sheppard could drawl his name the exact same way when they wanted information and didn’t want to wait.

He thought quickly and decided to take the chance that a distraction would work. Yeah, he was going to chicken out of telling Tony the real reason he’d come over.

“So you know how I told you Atlantis offered to fix me so I could talk to her?”

“Yeah….”

“I took her up on it a few days ago. She fixed my brain, and she was able to fix my back, knees, and all my allergies at the same time.”

Tony grinned in obvious delight. “Rodney, that’s awesome! How do you feel?”

“Fine.” He shrugged, allowing himself to smile a little. “Better than fine, actually. I thought it’d be weird having her in my head, but it’s not at all. I really like it.”

Tony’s bright smile turned soft. “That’s fantastic. I’m so glad to hear it. Just make sure to tell her when you want to be Separate. She’s good about doing it if you ask, but she’s never going to be the one to bring it up.”

“Yeah, well.” Rodney dropped his gaze to where he was picking at the seam on his pant leg. He could feel himself blushing.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, per se. I know you like being Separate a lot, but…. It’s just that when she tried to Separate from me, it hurt. She said that—” he cleared his throat. “She said that we could try again later when we’ve been joined for longer. Right now my mind has been lonely for too long, so it hangs onto her when she tries to back away. That’s why it hurt.”

“Oh, Rodney.” Tony reached a hand out from under zyr blanket, and Rodney found himself taking it, automatically accepting Tony’s human comfort the same way he was starting to automatically accept Atlantis’ mental comfort. “There’s nothing wrong with that, you know. If I hadn’t had Ronon when I came here, I probably would’ve hung onto her the same way.”

Rodney let go of Tony’s hand and shrugged.

“I like it. I like having her there.”

“I’m glad,” Tony replied.

“Just don’t tell anyone, okay? Not even Ronon?”

Tony immediately got what Rodney was trying to say. “No, of course I won’t. Ronon doesn’t need to know unless you want him to, and it would be really bad if someone slipped and Earth found out. You can trust me to keep your secret.”

Rodney relaxed. “I know. I just had to say it.”

“The only thing I’ll say is that once you start talking to her, it’s a hard habit to break, so you’ll have to be vigilant when you’re working in your lab or whatever.” Zy laughed a little. “Meetings can be hilarious or horrible, depending on how amused or annoyed she is. Time your drinking or eating carefully.”

Rodney’s eyes widened. “Is that why you and Ronon choke so much? I thought maybe it was because your organs were getting squished already, and Ronon had sympathetic pains or something.”

Tony burst into laughter. “Oh, crap. Is that what everyone thinks?”

“How would I know? I was just worried you needed to have Xander look at you, but you saw him right after a meeting that time, and you never acted like there was a problem. I thought it was your business and let it go.”

Sort of. He’d kept a lot closer watch. He might also have a spreadsheet tracking when Tony choked, the circumstances, and the possible other causes, but zy didn’t need to know any of that.

“Nothing like that at all,” Tony said, still snickering. “Atlantis has a sarcastic streak a mile wide, which I think you will love, quite frankly. I don’t know if she was all that sarcastic when I first met her, though, so you and I might be more responsible for it than we know.”

//Not at all,// Atlantis interrupted. //I merely withheld my observations until a time I knew you would also enjoy them. Not everyone will delight in it as much as you two do.//

“That’s probably good. I’m sure there are a bunch of kysra and future Satedans out there who wouldn’t respond as well. Little kids especially.”

“Some of them will. I would have loved it if anyone had talked to me like Atlantis does when I was a kid,” Rodney said, thrilled to be able to share in the previously one-way conversations Tony used to have with Atlantis.

“Yeah, but you’re a genius. The majority of little kids aren’t, and they’re normally not as jaded as we were either.”

Rodney just hummed a noncommittal response.

“So what did you really come up here to tell me?”

“What?” Rodney blinked, caught completely off guard by the question.

Tony smirked. “Atlantis said you’d found out something you thought I should know. If your Joining with her had been it, she wouldn’t have said it that way. She’d have said that you had something you wanted to talk to me about, or maybe just that you wanted to come hang out.”

“Oh.”

Tony raised one eyebrow, which looked kind of silly when zy was lying down. “Give me a little credit, Rodney. I was a cop and a federal agent. I’m literally trained to listen to what people say _and_ what they don’t say.”

Well, crap. Rodney could tell from the way Tony was looking at him that he wasn’t going to get out of it, so he reluctantly dragged his computer closer and opened it up, waking it from the hibernation mode it had automatically gone into when he’d closed the lid.

“It’s…. You’re not going to like it.”

“I figured.”

“Tony, I—I—” Rodney found himself in the strange position of not knowing how to say what he wanted to say.

//Speak your heart, dear one. Zy will hear you.//

Huh. Tony would hear, not just listen. That was an accurate description for the way zy talked to him.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

Tony nodded, zyr expression so resigned it made Rodney want to destroy everyone who’d ever hurt zyr.

“I know, but you can’t protect me either. If it’s about that guy they’re sending to replace me, I already know,” zy said gently.

Rodney blinked. What guy? Had he missed something in the last databurst? He and Atlantis had been so focused on what was going on back on Earth that it was possible.

“No? Okay, don’t get distracted; just spit it out.” Tony sat up and patted the sofa next to zyr.

Unable to resist, Rodney moved up next to zyr and brought up the screens he needed.

“We’ll go back to what you just said, but I think you’ll strangle me if I don’t get to the point.” Rodney brought up several more screens; he hoped it was faster than Tony could read the text. “First, just know I didn’t do it for any nefarious purpose. I wasn’t thinking that way at all. I wasn’t even curious, not really! I just wanted to make sure you _and_ your stuff back on Earth were okay. And then I started getting into it more, and—”

“Rodney.” Tony’s voice refocused him.

“Yeah, uh…well….” He cleared his throat again. “I might have hacked NCIS and a few financial institutions. Maybe the government, but just a little bit!”

Tony’s lips were twitching with suppressed amusement. “I figured that’s where you were going. I’m not upset. If I’d thought of it, I’d probably have asked you to do it anyway.”

Sometimes the level of faith Tony had in him blew Rodney’s mind.

“Right. Well, I found something with your name on it, and I remembered you said your father had used the Junior versus Senior thing to get some of your money once, so I made sure it wasn’t him. Because, um, the state of Maryland has you on record as being married.”

Tony blinked twice, zyr amusement turning to bewilderment. “I know you’re speaking English, but I’m so confused you might as well be speaking Urdu. How did Maryland get my marriage recorded?”

“It’s—it’s not the real one. It’s not your marriage to Ronon. I—”

Rodney made a frustrated noise and brought up the image of the document he’d found. He watched as Tony read through the certificate of marriage dated February 1, 2008. He saw the odd little twitch zy gave when zy saw zyr name listed as Male: Anthony D. DiNozzo, Jr. Then zy got to the next line. Female: Ziva R. David.

Tony went stiff; zyr eyes went wide, and zy made a pained sound. Zy stared at the screen in uncomprehending horror, not blinking. It was almost like Rodney could see Tony putting the pieces together and figuring out the rest of what he had to tell zyr. Then zy started to shake, zyr breathing turning into gasps. The pained sound became a high, anguished noise that escaped past gritted teeth. Zy started grabbing at Rodney with clawed fingers, all without looking away from the words on the screen.

If it had been an overloading ZedPM, if it had been a Wraith attack or an alien device about to detonate, Rodney could have dealt with it. But this was people, and he _never_ knew what to do or say to handle people. Not even Tony. If he had, Tony wouldn’t have been panicking because Rodney wouldn’t have been such a moron! He didn’t know what else he would have done, but not this!

Even Rodney could recognize a panic attack, and a bad one. Rodney did the only thing he could think of….

“Get Ronon!” Rodney yelled even as he shoved the computer out of the way and grabbed Tony in a tight hug. He didn’t know if that was right, but Tony always hugged him when he was upset, so it couldn’t make things worse, could it?

//He comes now!//

Ronon appeared in a flash of light, sweaty, smelly, and dirty from where he’d been out working with the Athosians again. None of that mattered.

“What the _fuck_ , McKay?!?!”

“I had to tell zyr! I had to tell zyr something bad!” Rodney shouted, almost as panicked as Tony. “I didn’t know! I didn’t want to hurt zyr; I didn’t know it would be this bad!”

He’d known it would be upsetting, but he’d never meant to do this! He’d thought he was getting zyr prepared for the really bad part. He’d thought he was easing zyr into it.

Ronon dropped to his knees beside the sofa and pulled Tony into his arms. His arm muscles flexed with how tightly he was holding zyr as zy keened and shook, zyr eyes fixed and no longer seeing anything in reality.

“Go get—we don’t have any more of that. Just get something to drink,” Ronon barked at him. “Water. Anything cold. Doesn’t matter.”

Rodney scrambled off the sofa, nearly tripping over his laptop. He ran through to the kitchen and jerked the refrigerator door open.

“Coldcoldcold,” he chanted as he stared. “Need cold.”

Nothing looked familiar even though he knew it all was. He was over often enough to know the contents almost as well as Tony did.

//Water, Rodney.// Atlantis’ voice was firm and calm, something to hold onto while he panicked. //Third shelf, left side. Take two bottles.//

“Right. Water. Cold water.”

Rodney grabbed a bottle, but his hand was shaking so badly he dropped it.

//Leave it. Take two others.//

“Yeah, others. Okay. I can do that.”

Rodney managed to get the two bottles and shut the door, then ran into the kitchen island, even though it was in the exact same spot it had been since Tony had moved in. He’d have a nasty bruise on his hip from that, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting the water to Tony. Ronon said Tony needed cold water, so Rodney was going to bring zyr cold water.

Back in the piano room, he dropped to his knees so hard beside them that it jarred his body all the way to his shoulders.

Tony was dry-heaving over a bucket Atlantis must have conjured. Ronon was holding zyr steady and speaking to zyr quietly enough Rodney couldn’t understand. That was okay. It felt like it would be wrong to hear the soft words between the two of them. Rather than try to hear, he cracked open the bottle of water and held it out.

“Here. Rinse.”

“Zy’s not actually puking,” Ronon snarled.

“I know, I know!” Rodney sucked in a shuddering breath. “But if zy rinses zyr mouth and spits, it can trick zyr body in to thinking it puked and it’s all over.”

Rodney knew from personal experience it could work. It didn’t always, but if it was something emotional or mental that was making him want to puke, it usually did. He’d used the trick many, many times in his life.

Ronon didn’t say anything, but he grabbed the bottle and helped Tony get a mouthful, then spit it into the bucket. When it seemed to help, he helped zyr do the same thing a few more times before Tony was calm enough to take tiny sips and keep them down. The bucket disappeared, so Atlantis must’ve thought it was working too.

Ronon helped Tony turn in his arms so he was cradling zyr, rocking their bodies gently as he whispered to zyr.

//Drink your water, Rodney,// Atlantis murmured.

He looked down, shocked to see he was holding a second bottle of water.

“Oh.”

Obediently, he opened it and mirrored the tiny sips Tony was taking.

Rodney had no idea how much time passed, but he thought Tony passed out or fell asleep against Ronon’s chest. Either was possible. He knew from his own panic attacks that the exhaustion that followed could knock him out for an hour or more.

Ronon looked up and pinned him with eyes so furious he truly feared the man for the first time in years.

“What the fuck did you do?” he snarled, his lips curling in disgust.

Rodney swallowed. “I—I—I never meant—I mean, I found out something. I couldn’t not tell zyr! Atlantis agreed.”

“So you waited and ambushed zyr with it? Were you _trying_ to make zyr lose the kyta?”

“No! I know! I know you can’t stand me, but I would never, never hurt Tony!” The thought hurt so much the words were like broken crystals in his mouth, painful just to say. “You—you hate me. I know. Fine. Join the fucking club—it’s got a huge membership list here and on Earth. My own sister hates me so much she’d rather humiliate me than talk to me.” 

Rodney’s jaw trembled, and he had to blink rapidly. His eyesight kept going fuzzy. Maybe Atlantis needed to take another look at that.

“You look at me and see a loser who’s only a little more useful than I am annoying. I get it. I’m bad with people. I don’t get the social cues everybody else seems to get. People don’t make sense to me. They never have.” He laughed, the sound flat and anguished. “You have no idea how many times my parents had me tested for some personality disorder. If a kid’s parents can’t stand him, you know there’s something seriously wrong with him, right?”

Rodney sniffed angrily and wiped away the water on his face. He had no idea where that had come from. It was annoying and didn’t even cool his face like he thought the water from the bottle should have.

“But here’s the thing: Tony looks at me like nobody else ever has. From the first time we talked, it was like zy knew me. I still don’t understand it, but zy just looked at me and saw me. Just me. Zy didn’t want my money. Zy didn’t care about all my degrees. Zy had no idea what I could do for zyr, and zy didn’t care. Any time I do something for Tony, zy gets all surprised and happy. Zy never expects it or thinks I should have done more or better or different.

“Zy never looks at me with pity when I don’t get something. Zy never embarrasses me or teases me with the stuff that is only funny to the people saying it. Tony is literally the only person in my entire life who has looked at me and seen me and still decided I was someone zy wanted as a friend. I’d rather kill; I’d rather _die_ than hurt zyr.”

Rodney swiped at his face again, finally realizing that he was crying. Shit. Yet another thing for Ronon to mock him for.

“You’re in love with zyr.”

Rodney almost didn’t recognize that the gentle words were aimed at him and not Tony. It took looking up at Ronon’s face, which had a weird expression he didn’t understand. Big surprise.

“No, but I could have been,” he admitted truthfully. “It would’ve been really easy to fall in love with zyr, but zy picked me to be zyr family. You gave us the word, you moron. Zy’s my ayah.” Rodney tried to force his trembling lips into a smile. “Tony is the first family I’ve ever had who loves me back.”

Rodney thought about what he’d found out. He thought about what it had done to Tony already and what it was likely to do when zy found out the extent of it. Rage filled him.

“Those assholes back on Earth,” Rodney growled, his hands clenching into fists. “They hurt my ayah. They made _me_ hurt my ayah.”

“Yeah, they did.” Ronon agreed, watching him curiously.

“I can’t hurt them physically, but they have no idea what they’ve done. Everything on Earth runs with computers, and _those_ I understand.” Rodney lifted his chin and resolutely met Ronon’s eyes. “I’m going to rip them apart. I’m going to shred their finances, their credibility, and their entire lives until they only _wish_ they’d been eaten by the Wraith. I’m going to destroy them, and I’m going to enjoy it.”

A slow, bloodthirsty smile curled Ronon’s lips, but what surprised Rodney was the look in his eyes: respect.

*~*~*~*

Tony groaned. Zyr lashes fluttered.

“Oh, good. Hot tea or cold water?” McKay asked, both drinks ready to deliver into Tony’s hands.

“Wha-?”

Ronon kissed the back of zyr neck, careful to keep zyr body balanced against his so that the pressure was off zyr hip joints as much as possible. He was still pissed that neither Tony nor Atlantis had told him Tony was hurting. That the information had come from McKay was doubly irritating.

Although…it seemed like Ronon might have misjudged McKay. He’d thought the scientist was purposely arrogant, annoying, and oblivious to anyone else’s feelings. Yeah, he probably developed some of those traits to push people away, but maybe it was just to keep them from criticizing him or making fun of him more than they already did. Ronon felt guilty for the times he’d been the one feeding an _etja14_ to its kin.15

If what he’d said was true, and Ronon had no reason to think otherwise, McKay didn’t understand people the way Ronon didn’t understand astrophysics, English idioms, or something Tony called country western music. He could study, try to mimic it, even appreciate it…a little. Not the music so much…but he’d never really understand it or be able to react the way Earthers wanted him to. If that’s how people were for McKay, then it wasn’t a surprise he said the wrong thing at the wrong time so often.

Aw, crap. Ronon was going to have to start being nice…nicer to him now. Dammit.

“You’re okay, m’kysra,” Ronon murmured, focusing on Tony. McKay could wait. “You’re safe. We’re on the sofa in the piano room, and McKay—Rodney is here with something for you to drink when you’re ready.”

Tony’s eyes opened. Zy frowned, and Ronon could tell zy was remembering what had happened. Zy raised one hand to cover zyr eyes and groaned.

“Shit. Now if I can just have a major panic attack in front of Teyla, I’ll have the whole set!”

McKay’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about? What is zy talking about? I don’t get it.”

Tony heaved a sigh and dropped zyr hand back to the sofa.

“I managed to completely lose my mind in front of John when Ronon and I were still back on Earth. I had a panic attack and wrecked the very nice breakfast we were all eating. Today, I lost it in front of you so bad that you actually had to have Atlantis get Ronon to get me calmed down.” Zy reached back and patted Ronon’s thigh. “Let me sit up, _caro_.”

Ronon didn’t like it, but he knew Tony wouldn’t let zyrself be anything but upright and in control after being so out of control.

Hearing Tony explain to McKay what zy meant triggered hundreds of memories of zyr doing something similar. Tony always explained things, never talked down to him, and never teased him, all while acting like it was completely normal. No wonder McKay was so devoted to zyr.

As soon as they were both sitting up, McKay slid the little tray with the tea and water closer. Tony took the fresh bottle of water, and McKay’s shoulders went back, and he smirked a little, like he was satisfied he’d just fixed something meaningful. Given what Ronon now understood, that probably was how McKay felt. If people really were that frustrating to him, then it probably was a big deal when he got something right. A lot of things that irritated Ronon about McKay were starting to make more sense.

“So now I just need to completely flip my shit in front of Teyla, and all of AR-1 will have seen me humiliate myself.”

“Oh, you’re embarrassed,” McKay said, the rest of his confusion fading. “Well, that’s dumb. Maybe if it had been some of those muscle-bound morons who parade around the city like they’re god’s gift to humanity, then you could be embarrassed. But it’s just me. You know I’ve had my share of panic attacks.”

Tony choked on a laugh. “Yeah, but at least you can bitch your way through them most of the time. I get going, and I flash back to the blue lights. A minor panic attack turns into a major thing.” Zy frowned. “I don’t know why I’m doing it now. It makes no sense, but this is the second time in less than six months.”

Ronon made a note of the blue lights reference for later.

“Probably because you’re not pretending to be somebody else all the time.” Ronon shrugged when Tony gave him a surprised look. “You don’t have to put all your real feelings in a box and close ‘em up tight. You know I’m still messed up about everything that happened to me. Pretending it isn’t there doesn’t make it go away; it just delays it.”

Tony and McKay both were staring at him with the same expression. He wasn’t sure why because that was just common sense. No matter how long Ronon had been on the run and trying to forget, it hadn’t been until he’d come to Atlantis that he’d actually started to heal. Even then, there were things that he’d only been able to start to let go of once he’d faced them with one of his team or with Tony. He was still messed up in a lot of ways.

“Oh, that makes sense, actually,” McKay said. “It’s like no matter how many work-arounds you have, if you don’t go back and repair or replace the original coding, the program isn’t going to function properly. You’ll have to go back and fix it eventually.”

“So what was it?” Ronon asked.

Tony raised an eyebrow and took another drink of zyr water.

“What was it that sent you back to the blue lights?”

Tony gave a full-body flinch, and McKay was almost as bad.

“Shut up, you idiot!” McKay hissed. “I already hurt zyr. Zy doesn’t need you to make it worse!”

“No, it’s alright,” Tony said. Zy dragged both feet up on the sofa and let zyr head fall onto Ronon’s shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, Rodney. I’m pretty sure you didn’t expect me to get what you were trying to tell me right away.”

“Which was?”

Tony gave another heavy sigh and exchanged a look with McKay. He pressed his lips together like he was refusing to say anything. Looking between the two of them, Ronon could tell he wasn’t going to get any further. He tried a different tactic.

“What are the blue lights?”

“Wow, let’s start with the easy question, huh?” Tony said bitterly. Zy scrubbed zyr face with both hands, then sighed. “Okay, so back when I was an agent, I got exposed to this disease. It was engineered to be incurable with any medications we had, so I had to go to a hospital to be treated. Even then, I had an 87% chance I’d die. I almost did.

“During that time, the room I was quarantined in had these special blue lights that were supposed to kill any bacteria I breathed out, so I’d lie there, drowning in my own lungs and thinking I was going to die.”

“So now when you panic, it makes you feel like you can’t breathe. Not being able to breathe makes your mind think you’re back there.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Tony dropped zyr gaze to where Ronon had laced their fingers together.

“I—I don’t understand why that thing I showed you made you panic today, though,” McKay said, watching Tony as carefully as Ronon had ever seen him watch his precious computers.

“Well, it kind of ties in, actually. See the only thing that made that time I was dying remotely tolerable was my partner. Kate pretended to be sick too so she could stay with me as long as possible. She kept teasing me, picking at me and reminding me I wasn’t dead yet until they kicked her out. Not long after that, she was shot right in front of me.”

“Did you get the guy who did it?”

“Yeah. Yeah we did. We also got a new woman on our team, and she was very little like Kate. In some ways, that was a good thing. I never looked over at the desk where Kate sat and expected her to be there. Not with this other woman sitting there. One of the biggest differences was Kate at least respected my ability as an investigator. Because of the masks I wore, she never thought I was more than an egotistical, chauvinistic pig, but she didn’t think I was an idiot. Her replacement didn’t even respect me that much. No matter what I did, she went out of her way to make sure I knew I was beneath her.”

Tony made a noise that was probably supposed to be a laugh. It sounded a lot more like a sob to Ronon’s ears.

“Sometimes I wondered if that’s literally what she wanted. She’d blow hot and cold, and I never knew if she wanted to fight me or fuck me on any given day. What’s worse, it was her brother who murdered Kate. To top it all off, _she_ was the one who had put together the report on my team that her brother had used to decide which of us to kill. Her name is Ziva David.”

McKay’s eyes went huge and round, and he gasped in so hard he choked on his own spit.

“Yeah, so you can see why I was a little upset when I saw a marriage certificate for me and Ziva David, dated the very day that I met Ronon.”

Ronon saw red. “What.”

Tony’s lips curled up in a grim smile. “You remember I told you I’d gone to my boss that day?”

“Your taskmaster.” Ronon nodded.

“Right. Well, I found out from him that Ziva was going to be deported back to her own country, but she didn’t want to go. She’d spun some lie to my boss that she and I had been in a relationship, and she must have heavily implied she was pregnant with my kid. I told him it was physically impossible, that I’d never laid a hand on her that way, but I managed to out myself as a kysra at the same time. Obviously, I didn’t marry Ziva.

“As soon as I saw that marriage certificate, I knew Gibbs, my boss, had decided that he was going to use me to keep Ziva in the country. He’d long since proven he preferred her to me, so it wouldn’t bother him to sacrifice me to keep her. He wouldn’t even have to go far. I had two coworkers who would have fallen over themselves to do whatever Gibbs wanted them to do. I have no doubt Abby or McGee or both forged the license and the certificate.”

Tony paused, and something told Ronon that wasn’t the end. He was proven right after Tony took a couple sips of water and licked zyr lips so zy could continue.

“Rodney, you know how I just told you that I’m trained to hear what people say and what they don’t say?”

“Yeah….”

“Well, the second I saw that certificate, I knew that if Gibbs was willing to go that far, he would’ve had Ziva’s name put on all my finances, my property, and anything else they could find. I also know Ziva. She’s a first-class bitch who would’ve been thrilled to get her hands on it. I have nothing left, do I? No money in the bank, no retirement, no investments. It’s all gone, right?”

“I—I could have missed something.”

Tony shook zyr head. “You and I both know better than that,” zy said gently. “I’m just glad I went on that huge shopping spree, and John was willing to push for all the exceptions so I could bring all my stuff with me. She’d have sold—or set on fire—my piano purely out of spite. As it is, I have everything that mattered to me, and that’s what I have to remember. I think it was just the shock of realizing that everything I’d worked and saved for my whole life was suddenly gone.”

“I’ll get it back for you, Tony,” McKay offered. “You know I can.”

“No, don’t bother. I have to admit I’m impressed she managed to get the trust fund my mother left me. Not even my piece-of-shit father was able to get his hands on that.”

“It’s not right,” Ronon snarled. “That can’t be legal, not even on a backwards planet like Earth.”

“No,” McKay agreed, his blue eyes full of the same furious fire they had been when he’d vowed to get revenge. “It’s not. Let me get it back for you, _please_ , Tony. Let me do that much.”

Tony waved him off. “It’s okay. I have some rainy-day accounts I set up under a couple aliases a long time ago, and you know? It might even be a good thing. I chose to be Tony Dex here on purpose, not Anthony DiNozzo or even Anthony Dex. It could be a good thing to have split completely from that world. I’ll need your skills to buy stuff using my Darius Paddington accounts. That’ll be plenty.”

“No, it’s not,” Ronon growled.

He turned Tony’s face toward him and kissed zyr. Normally, he’d never let himself be possessive because Tony should only ever belong to zyrself, but he figured giving zyr a hard, possessive kiss was better than walking back through the Gate and killing everyone on that fucking planet.

When he pulled back, Tony looked a little stunned.

“It’s not enough. You’ll never belong to anyone else; not even your old Earth name should be taken from you. You were willing to marry me and be Tony Dex, so now I’m asking you to let me marry you for Earth paperwork too.”

Seeing that Tony was cautiously interested, he continued, “When we talked to Jimmy, you made it sound like we’d been together a long time. If you let him, I bet McKay can fix it in their computers so those say we’ve been together a long time too, at least long enough that you can do something to get your money back.”

McKay sat up straight, his hands already twitching toward his laptop.

“He’s right, Tony! I can make it so you and Ronon have a civil union for as far back as you want. That would make that bitch’s fraud that much more obvious, and I have plenty of money to throw at a lawyer to make sure you get your money back. Even if you don’t want it, save it for mini-Dex and however many other mini-Dexes come along.”

Tony stared between the two of them.

“Oh, crap. The two of you are agreeing on something?” Zy started to smile faintly. “I don’t have a hope in hell of arguing you out of it, do I?”

“Nope.”

“Not really. I bet Atlantis agrees too.”

//Yesssss,// she hissed furiously. //Such disrespect to my Kysra is not to be borne!//

Tony raised zyr hands in defeat. “Okay, okay. I know when I’m out-voted. Do it, Rodney. Pick a date and witness for after the middle of last October. Before that would be…problematic.”

Tony had a weird tone. Ronon would have to ask zyr why before then would’ve been a problem. Had zy been involved with someone?

“It was a case,” Tony said, noticing how Ronon was watching zyr. “I was undercover, and I had to date the target’s daughter. It was a mess.”

“Okay. October or the next month is good,” Ronon said, deciding to drop it for the moment.

“You’ll have to hack NCIS and get my schedule, Rodney. I worked my ass off, but I can’t honestly remember what cases happened when, or which days I was at work so long that dating would’ve been impossible.”

Rodney shot zyr a scathing look, his fingers flying on his computer keys.

“Please, do you really think I didn’t capture everything remotely related to you?” He typed fast for a while, then asked, "How do you feel about November 10th? You could say you and Ronon started dating, and it was a whirlwind romance. You got married not even a month after you met.”

Ronon shrugged. “Fine with me.”

“If you say it works with my schedule for back then, I don’t care. The only wedding date that matters is Einstein 9th.”

Ronon cupped Tony’s cheek and pressed a soft kiss to zyr lips.

“Meraska,” he murmured.

“Husband,” Tony whispered back.

Rodney pretended to gag, but now that Ronon was looking for such things, he noted the small smile the scientist was trying to hide.

“There!” Rodney announced sometime later. “I am brilliant, as usual. You may express your adoration in chocolate and coffee at any time.”

“It’s all set for the next databurst?”

“Yes, but it’s even better.”

“Why, what did you do?”

“Well, when they let Ronon go to the hotel, they had to give him and official ID. They made him a foreign diplomat. Since you’re married according to the laws of his country, you and any children you have are covered under that law.”

Tony started laughing and couldn’t seem to stop.

Ronon wasn’t sure why, but he assumed it meant Rodney had done something really smart. Maybe this was a time he could make up for being such a sa’te wreth to McKay all those times.

“Good job.”

Rodney, who had been watching Tony laugh with a fond smile, jerked and stared at Ronon.

“For protecting our family,” he was forced to explain. “Good job.”

“Oh. Yeah. Okay. Uh, thanks?”

Geez. If he’d known it would make Rodney almost silent, Ronon would’ve complimented him a long time ago.

“Right. I’m going to go back to my lab and do important things now. You two should really take a shower, a bath, something.”

“Are you saying I stink?” Tony demanded playfully.

He closed up his computer and got up without complaining about his back or his knees, which Ronon thought was odd. Maybe he just didn’t want to complain when Tony had been so upset earlier.

“You smell like.... What’s the thing that Lorain say?” He snapped his fingers fast several times, trying to remember. “Oh, right.” He moved to the doorway and actually started backing out of the room completely. “You both smell like the south end of a north-bound aknata. You should do something about that before you come to supper.”

“Jerk!” Tony laughingly called out after him.

Ronon didn’t think it had hurt Rodney’s feelings, and Tony was back to chuckling helplessly. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to have him for a brother-in-law.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **14** etja (ET-ʤah) small, furry, defenseless herbivore similar to a rabbit [Satedan]  
>  **15** Feeding an etja to its kin: idiom meaning to purposely mock, insult, or ridicule someone and derive pleasure from their distress; to bully someone [Satedan]
> 
> The image is a real luxury residential building designed by James Law Cybertecture. Check out Bandra Ohm in Mumbai, India. I can't get the link to work here, sorry.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next two chapters are difficult ones that involve issues of consent, folks. Please make sure you've read all the warnings tagged at the top of the page.

**Chapter 8**

_Chernday, YangHui 20, First Year of the Returned  
(May 20, 2008)_

Tony and Wolfe were meeting with Carter in her office to go over the progress they’d made and the changes they were hoping to implement in the few days they had left before the _Daedalus_ —and Mason Grant—arrived, and Tony was no longer the Chief Investigator. Over the course of their entire meeting, Tony had been distracted by the weirdest sound. It was like a combination of two cement blocks being dragged across one another, and a flatulent elephant. Or what zy assumed a flatulent elephant would sound like. It was the weirdest, loudest thing, and neither Carter nor Wolfe seemed to hear it. At all. Tony was beginning to question zyr sanity.

“I noticed that you changed that clause we talked about last time,” Carter was saying. “I didn’t understand why it was such a big deal until you just explained it though. That was a good catch.”

“I’m sorry,” Tony interrupted, unable to take it anymore, “but really? Do _neither_ of you hear that?!”

Carter tried to cover her laughter with a cough, but Wolfe didn’t bother. He guffawed loudly and slapped his hand on his knee.

Carter huffed, “Fine, fine. Zy lasted a lot longer than I thought zy would. Certainly longer than you did!”

With that odd pronouncement, she rose and went to the large, biometrically locked safe. She pressed her entire palm against the pressure plate, then spouted off a long string of letters and numbers. The safe opened with a beep.

“I want you to know I did not take this matter lightly.” She sighed heavily and reached inside, pulling out…a _Snickers bar?!_

Whatever Tony’s face was doing set Wolfe off again, and he barely could hold his hand still for Carter to smack the chocolate bar into it.

“That was my very last candy bar. I’ll have you know I bet that you would give in to your curiosity before we got half way through your changes.”

“A bet’s a bet.” Wolfe ripped open the packaging, taking a big bite off the end and making a show of closing his eyes and moaning in ecstasy.

“Wait, you bet on me?”

“Yeah,” the Colonel admitted. “It’s the sound. Nobody has been able to last more than five minutes without asking, so I thought it was a sure bet you’d break about then or a little longer. Wolfe bet you’d last at least half way through the updates.”

“And you lost your last chocolate bar because I’m more polite—and worried about my sanity—than I am curious.”

“Pretty much.”

Wolfe offered Tony the unbitten end. “Want some? Sharing is only right, since you did help me win.”

Tony snorted. “No, thanks. If you had red hots or those cinnamon fish things, I’d be all over it. Chocolate doesn’t taste good to me lately.”

“You poor bastard.”

Even Carter was giving zyr a pitying look.

“What I will take is an answer to my question. What the hell is that horrible noise?”

“C’mere. I’ll show you.” Carter chuckled as she moved toward the other side of the room where a panel that had looked solid somehow detached and slid back. The noise immediately grew louder.

Tony followed, knowing Atlantis would warn zyr if it were something dangerous. Zy took her silence as a good thing. When zy made it to the door and looked out onto the balcony, zyr jaw dropped.

Carter actually giggled before clearing her throat and pretending she’d never made such a girly noise.

“Is that—is that Starsong?” zy asked incredulously.

She nodded, and Tony felt Wolfe come up behind zyr.

“It’s a helluva noise for such a pretty creature, isn’t it?”

What was either a new, or extensively remodeled, balcony boasted a massive sandbox, a kiddie-sized pool of water, and a female tanricu. The tanricu was spread out on her belly on the sand, her bright blue wings splayed wide. Her torso rose and fell in rhythm with the awful noise, and it finally occurred to Tony:

“Is she seriously snoring? Her _snoring_ is what’s making that noise?!”

Carter giggled again and actually had to cover her mouth with her hand. Once she got herself under control, she nodded.

“Yeah. This is her prime sun-baking time, when the direct sunlight fills her entire sandbox. Atlantis made this for us, and there’s another one attached to my new quarters.” She grinned. “I had to move, since there wasn’t exactly room for Starsong in my old ones.”

Starsong shifted in her sleep, and her left wing moved back enough that zy could see her head. The snoring started up again, only this time zy could see the dark grey feathers that were sticking out of the side of her mouth.

“Oh no!” Carter exclaimed, her expression somewhere between dismay and disgust. At Tony’s questioning look, she explained, “I really hate it when she eats the fisher birds. They give her terrible gas.”

Tony stared at her incredulously, then cracked up.

“You can only laugh because she’s not in your house when she—uh—lets go.”

Of course, that just made it worse, and zy was forced to head back into the office and retake zyr chair, Wolfe and Carter close behind zyr.

“It’s really the worst thing about having bonded to her. Atlantis had to install one of the fumigation units like the experimental chemistry labs have,” Carter explained with a chagrined look.

//It is horrific, Tony. I had to figure out a way to vent the fumes directly above the atmosphere.// Atlantis confirmed. //The first time it happened, Colonel Carter thought she was the victim of a chemical attack.//

Tony did not put zyr head down on the desk and give in to uncontrollable mirth, but it was a close thing.

“Just you wait!” Carter snapped, though she was chuckling. “Starsong might very well be the answer to all of our Wraith problems! A couple of fisher birds and a day within range of one of those organic ships, and they’d all be dead.”

“She’ll have to change her name to Wraithsbane,” Wolfe tossed out.

After that, it took them all several minutes to calm down.

“My life is so surreal,” Tony marveled. “Atlantis, would you bring us a few of the special stock and some of the secret brew?”

Wolfe and Carter gave zyr odd looks only as long as it took the homemade oatmeal raisin cookies and fresh, cold milk to materialize on the desk between them.

After biting into one, Carter declared, “You are officially my favorite. Where did you get these?”

Tony grinned. “I made them yesterday evening, actually. The sad part is that was the absolute last of the food and baking supplies I brought with me. I still have junk food type stuff, but if you want any more cookies, you’ll have to get me supplies under the table.”

“I will make it happen,” she declared, then closed her eyes to savor her next bite.

They sat back and enjoyed the cookies, all of them happy for the break. Once their snack was gone, Carter going so far as to lick her fingers and use it to pick up the tiny crumbs on the plate, they were forced to return to the topic at hand.

“I have a question about this requisition.”

“Okay.”

“Tony, why didn’t you ever put in a request for any of this for yourself? Why are you worried about making sure Grant has an office, interview rooms, and all this equipment?”

“Because I didn’t need it,” Tony replied, surprised that the question hadn’t been something more difficult, like the reason zy was requesting an outer office for a public access desk and an inner office area where Grant would be able to keep evidence boards and other things the public shouldn’t see. “None of the crimes I worked required the equipment that would give results that could be used in court. The major crime Wolfe and I dealt with was the one with evidence tampering and the cover-up of criminal actions by others. All of that was in the database, and Rodney was able to pull the evidence for me. That will definitely stand up in court, though it won’t go that far because no one wants to explain the whole Stargate program.

“Everything else was small-time stuff, for which I mostly handed down sentences for restitution and community service. There was only one case where we had to have DNA, and Wolfe took that one since the accused was under his authority. Plus, just like we discussed, Atlantis has started doing more real-time surveillance of the public areas, and now that she’s awake and has changed the coding, it isn’t like anybody can just break into any of the secured areas.”

“I think it helps that we have more security-minded people in charge of the more sensitive areas,” Wolfe offered.

Tony had to agree with that. “Doc Xander has completely changed the way medicine and controlled substances are stored, not to mention who can access which substances, so the use and sale of medical supplies isn’t a problem anymore. After I came down on that botanist who was trying to create a market for that hallucinogenic plant, the sciences all took a look at their procedures and instituted something similar. Knowing Atlantis can make whatever kind of storage and security they need has helped immensely.”

Carter still looked perplexed, and she was tapping her nails on her chair.

“I think what the Colonel is asking is if you didn’t need all this, then why would Grant?”

“The one thing I’ve learned is that as security measures increase, so will a criminal’s determination to commit a crime,” Tony explained with a wry smile. “Not all of them will be deterred, and Grant will one day need every bit of this.” Zy shrugged. “Eventually, we’re going to get someone who is determined and sees the security measures as a challenge. When that happens, Grant should be prepared and should have all the right equipment to do just as thorough an investigation as he would if he worked for NCIS, the FBI, or any other alphabet agency.”

Rather than reassuring her, that answer actually seemed to make Carter more upset, if the way her lips pressed tightly together and her brow furrowed was any indication.

“I know I shouldn’t be saying this out loud at all, but I really wish you were staying Chief Investigator. I’m going to try to figure out a way that you’ll either be equal to or above Grant. Wolfe, Sheppard, and I haven’t given up on the idea of an Arbiter, but we’re going to have to be careful how we do it so the IOA doesn’t just appoint someone to that position too.”

Tony was saved from trying to find a reply to Carter’s statement.

“Unscheduled activation.”

Zy, Wolfe, and Carter all startled at the announcement that came through their comms. The Stargate lit up, the wormhole forming before any of them could do anything but stand and hurry to the window overlooking the Gate.

Before Carter could radio to ask who it was, Rodney McKay burst through the event horizon. If that weren’t alarming enough—Tony knew for a fact that AR-1 wasn’t due home for several hours—the Gate closed again without Ronon, John, and Teyla coming through first.

Carter and Tony looked at each other: something must’ve gone horribly wrong.

“Should I—?”

“Atlantis, get Tony!” Rodney shouted frantically.

Tony was out the door and flying down the staircase.

“Rodney! What’s wrong?”

Up close, Rodney was a wreck. He looked like he’d been in a fist-fight, and his uniform was as dirty as if he’d been rolling on the ground. He had a nasty split lip, and a black eye already forming.

“Tony!” Rodney gasped, grabbing zyr upper arms. “It’s Ronon. Something happened.”

Tony felt all the blood drain from zyr face and nearly stumbled. Cold fear worse than anything Tony had ever experienced spiked through zyr heart.

“Is he—?” Wolfe demanded from behind them.

Rodney raised a shaking hand to wipe the sweat from his face, but only succeeded in smearing the dirt and blood further.

“No, no. He’s alive,” Rodney panted. “But something happened.”

Rodney’s gaze darted around the room.

“Hey, Atlantis. Can we get a little privacy? And chairs?” He licked his lips, then wiped the back of his hand over his mouth to get rid of the blood. “And maybe some water?”

Atlantis herself appeared, frowning deeply. She opened a water bottle and handed it to Rodney, her hand steadying his to help him drink.

“Rodney is injured. Shall I remove you all to the infirmary?” she asked Colonel Carter.

“Yes, that’s a good idea.”

Rodney swallowed and shook his head. “No time. Gotta go back.”

“Then the Colonel’s office,” Atlantis insisted.

“Yeah, okay.”

There was that split second of oddness that had become familiar Tony, and then they all were back in Carter’s office, the once-clear glass now opaque.

“Sit, Kysra,” Atlantis instructed, “before you fall down.”

Surprised to realize that zy was shaking, Tony allowed Atlantis to help zyr sit even as Carter was helping Rodney and taking his P90 from him at the same time.

“Rodney,” Tony croaked. “What happened to Ronon?”

Slightly calmer, Rodney took a deep breath and began to explain, “Everything was going really well with the negotiation, and we came to an agreement. I’ve already bitched to you about how everything in Pegasus has to be finalized over a meal. That went okay too, or I thought it was. They didn’t have anything that seemed to be weirder than normal, anyway.

“Then, about half way through the meal, Ronon lost his mind. He jumped up, did this terrifying battle cry thing, then swept everything off the table. He started picking people at random and going after them, beating the crap out of them.”

“What?!”

“I know, not exactly his usual behavior, no matter how much I mock him or call him cave-Dex. The natives seemed to be horrified, but they also seemed to recognize the state he was in, and they evacuated the tent we were all in…which was good, because it took Ronon about five minutes to completely destroy the thing. Sheppard, Teyla, and I all tried to get him to calm down, but it was like he had no idea who we were. Then the locals dragged us out.”

“That’s how you got that shiner?” Carter asked.

“Yeah.” Rodney’s gaze slid back to Tony. “I’ve had an appreciation for your husband’s strength ever since he decided I needed to learn self-defense again, but I realized today that he’d never used even a fraction of his real strength on me. He tossed me across the room like a ragdoll.”

Tony felt like zy was going to be sick.

“Then what?”

“It turns out Ronon got drugged with this mushroom that they have—not one of truffle ones we were trying to trade for. This was something else. Sheppard said Ronon’s reaction reminded him of what historians thought the Vikings used to eat before battle, some kind of primitive PCP.”

“How did this happen?” Carter demanded.

“We’re not sure. We thought the food, but then we’d all have gotten some.”

“For fuck’s sake, why Ronon?” Tony blurted out.

“The women were all talking and giggling about how hot Ronon was, especially after they learned he was from Sateda—the first Sateda—originally. He had no time for them, for obvious reasons—” Rodney gestured at Tony. “The drug, poison, whatever, can affect people two ways: make them want to fight or make them want to—” Rodney made a vague, waving motion. “—you know, have sex. The only reason we can think of is that somebody was hoping the poison would affect him the other way, and they’d get him in their beds. Or wherever.”

“That sounds like it increases testosterone exponentially along with whatever else it does,” Wolfe said.

Carter nodded. “That’s dangerous enough on its own, and I can’t think it would be safe to try to counter it with a random hormone cocktail. I’m going to get our toxicologists and Doc Xander on this immediately.”

“We don’t have time to come up with an antidote!” Rodney shouted. “Ronon is out there right now hurting himself by punching and kicking trees and who knows what else when he can’t find a human enemy. Somebody said something about man-sized boars in the forests!”

Tony felt a cold bottle being pressed into zyr hands and discovered Atlantis had opened a water for zyr and was urging zyr to drink. Like with Rodney, she had to steady zyr hands so zy didn’t spill it all over zyrself.

Carter’s expression turned grim. “I’ll call Doc Xander and have him bring up a tranquilizer.”

“No!” Rodney objected immediately. “The locals said that the drug has to work its way through his system naturally. Any attempt to counter it—or even just restrain him physically—could lead to permanent insanity or death by what sounded like a heart attack or maybe a stroke. I don’t understand why, but that’s what they said.”

Not being able to simply tranquilize Ronon was a problem, but there had to be _something_ they could do.

“Then what’s the plan?” Wolfe demanded, echoing Tony’s thoughts. “You all must have one, or you wouldn’t have come back.”

“An elder told us that if the, uh, if the victim is attracted to a person, the violent side of the drug sometimes can be switched from fight to lust. We all know that Ronon would never forgive himself for cheating on Tony.”

Wolfe interjected, “Killing him would be kinder than forcing him to have sex with someone else.”

“That’s what Teyla said, so she and Sheppard stayed to help get the locals herded somewhere safe, and they sent me back to get Tony and a couple teams to set up a perimeter guard around them until the toxin had, ah, worn itself out.”

“They can’t get him back through the Gate?”

“No. Last I checked, they were trying to herd him toward a less inhabited area, but anyone and anything who gets his attention kind of gets smashed.” Rodney crushed the empty water bottle in his hand. “Hulk-like.”

“I’ll go. I have to go. Please, Colonel.” Tony wasn’t too proud to beg if that’s what it took.

Carter pressed her lips together into a thin, unhappy line, but she nodded sharply. “Gear up and….” She stopped mid-sentence and flushed. “Actually, just get what you need from your quarters. It’ll only take the other teams ten minutes to be ready, so be back here asap.”

Then she touched her comm and said, “Recon Six gear up; Search and Rescue one and two, gear up. Be in the Gateroom in ten to be briefed.” She closed the channel, then touched the comm again, “Carter to Doc Xander. Please have an emergency kit and two of your people prepared to go through the Gate in ten. They’ll be dealing with a poisoning victim; the toxin is from a mushroom,  possibly mushroom spores. According to locals, the toxin causes—”

Atlantis beamed Tony into zyr and Ronon’s bathroom, then steadied zyr on zyr feet when zy stumbled.

“I’m okay, thanks.”

“You are not, but you will be,” Atlantis said firmly. A tube of medical-grade lubricant appeared in her hand, which she extended to zyr. “You should thoroughly prepare your body, Tony. Your husband will not be able to arouse you as he normally does, and you are tense and frightened.”

Tony blinked stupidly. Oh. That hadn’t even occurred to zyr. What Atlantis was leaving unsaid was that Tony’s body wouldn’t be slick, relaxed, or stretched. Taking Ronon’s cock was going to hurt, probably a lot.

Zy really was off zyr game. Then again, zy had never had someone zy loved the way zy loved Ronon be in such a dangerous state. Hopefully, Tony’s brain would catch up pretty soon so zy wouldn’t feel so dazed and stupid.

“Yeah, thanks,” zy repeated.

Atlantis gave zyr privacy to do as she’d suggested. Tony could only hope zy had done a good enough job. Once finished, zy went to zyr closet and stared at zyr clothing. How the hell did one dress when preparing to rape one’s husband…if they were lucky and the drug turned like the locals said it would?

“Tony,” Atlantis said softly, appearing next to zyr again. “I have brought you medical scrubs. The seams have been loosened so they will be easy enough to remove if you have time. If Ronon decides to rip them from your body, it is no loss. I have instructed Doc Xander to send two additional sets in your and Ronon’s sizes for when you return.”

Tony swallowed thickly and shed the robe zy had put on temporarily.

“Thank you. I didn’t think. I can’t—”

“Tony!” Atlantis snapped, making zyr blink and snapping zyr out of zyr mental fog. “You are ready. You will go through the Gate. You will gain your husband’s attention, and you will be successful in turning the violence of the drug to lust. You will lie together, just as you have many, many times here in my structure. Once you both are well, you will return to me.”

The confidence in Atlantis’ unwavering gaze—strange and black as her eyes were today—gave Tony the faith and the calm zy needed.

“Right. You’re right. The teams will protect us, we’ll have marathon sex like we do on our days off, and we’ll come back just fine.”

Atlantis smirked, teasing gently, “You and Ronon are always so eager to copulate that I will not be surprised if neither of you realize when the drug wears off. I must tell Rodney to have you brought back once the two of you can no longer orgasm and lose consciousness in one another’s arms. I know that has happened more than once. In fact, I recall having to move you from the bath to your bed so you would not drown.”

Tony snorted. “You should tell him that, just so I can see the expression on his face.”

From there, everything was a blur until the jumper was landing.

“Sit tight,” a young Corporal ordered in a slight Southern drawl when Tony started to stand. “Let us secure the perimeter first, got it? I’m not going back and telling Atlantis I wasn’t careful with her kysra. Not telling Ronon Dex we let you take chances either. Don’t need that kind’a ass-kickin’, even if the Great Lady fixed me up from before.”

“Got it,” Tony replied.

The young Marine looked familiar, but Tony couldn't quite place him until he shifted and zy could read his surname. The last time Tony had seen Austin Red Eagle had been from a distance, and he'd looked like such an angry, miserable mess that Tony had meant to keep an eye out for him. This young man with his long, dark braid and kind, blue eyes bore little resemblance to the version Tony had seen. He was as serious as the situation called for, but the loss of the anger and unhappiness had lifted a massive weight from his shoulders.

It seemed like forever, but it was probably closer to two minutes before Teyla herself came to get Tony.

“Tony,” she murmured, drawing zyr into an embrace. “I am very glad you are here. You understand what has happened?”

“Yeah, I know. Just tell me there’s some place I can try to lure Ronon so we’re not giving the whole village a free show.”

Seeming to take heart from Tony’s confidence, Teyla stood taller and tried to smile.

“Yes, we have prepared a tent at the edge of the village. Their strongest, swiftest fighters are luring Ronon to that place as we speak, but perhaps it will be more productive if you simply go there and call to him. You are Ronon’s very heart; I believe he will know you even in the madness that has taken his logical mind.”

Tony swallowed nervously, but nodded zyr agreement.

“Then let’s go, warrior queen. I’ve got a husband to wrangle.”

Teyla led zyr quickly past the village to a hastily erected tent made of animal hides at the very edge of the settlement. It was shaped like an upside-down cone, much like the tents zy had seen in Earth history books about the early Native Americans. The flap was pinned open, and Teyla assured zyr that she would close it personally as soon as zy and Ronon were safely inside. Tony was just glad to see that the entire area within the tent had been layered with thick hides, furs, and blankets, making it as soft and comfortable as it could be under the circumstances.

A roar of unadulterated fury rent the air. Tony winced, but scrutinized the forest in that direction, trying to see zyr husband. A few seconds later, three fighters who had clearly had their asses thoroughly kicked shot by, either unaware or uncaring of all the people watching.

“He follows! Prepare!” the fourth one yelled, limping as fast as he could after his companions.

Sure enough, Ronon burst from within the forest. His clothing was torn and covered in everything from food and weeds to blood. His hair was a dirty, tangled mess rather than the neatly pulled-back tail Tony had seen that morning. Most disturbing, Ronon’s face seemed inhuman. Even at that distance, Tony could see the whites of his eyes as he whipped his head around and sought out more enemies.

He truly looked crazy, like the insane berserker in Earth’s Viking legends.

“Get back, everyone,” Tony ordered in a calm voice.

Zy wanted zyr husband back, whole and sane. Zy refused to fail.

When he was close enough, Tony yelled, “Ronon, I’m here! Come to me, husband!”

Zy hoped that hearing his name and his title—the title he held more precious than his name—would reach through the poison in his system to the man beneath.

Ronon paused, and his eyes rolled wildly. He growled, searching madly for the voice that had called to him. He even stuck his nose in the air, as if he could scent Tony that way.

“Ronon, come to me!” Tony tried again.

Unfortunately, the fight-or-flight instinct of one of the locals kicked in, and the man cried out and ran, gaining Ronon’s attention. Tony barely had time to wonder what the idiot was doing in an area that was supposed to have been cleared.

Ronon bellowed and started after him, so Tony did the only thing zy could: zy bolted after him and tackled him to the ground. Furious, Ronon grappled against zyr and tried to pin zyr, but Tony put zyr experience from the police force and NCIS to good use and rolled them until zy was on top.

Ronon screamed his rage, but Tony shouted. “Ronon, husband! It’s me, Tony!”

Ronon stilled, his teeth bared in a snarl. Tony could almost see him fighting against the drug, trying to recognize zyr, so zy straddled him and ground their crotches together.

“Husband, I need you. Ronon.”

Ronon was still, other than his panting and growling, his expression still so crazed that the whites of his eyes were showing all around, and his nostrils were flaring even as he gulped in air through his mouth.

“Okay, scent. Let’s try that.”

Tony sat on Ronon’s hips and stripped off the scrub top, then stretched forward so zy could press Ronon’s face into the space between zyr neck and shoulder.

“See, _caro_ , it’s me. You know me.”

Ronon growled deep in his chest, and his arms came up around Tony and clamped down tight fingers digging painfully into Tony’s back.

“Yeah, that’s it, Ronon. You know me.”

Tony hoped zy sounded more confident than zy was. Zyr heart was racing, and with the way he was digging his fingers into zyr, Tony was more than a little afraid Ronon would rip zyr apart.

Ronon flipped them over, pinning Tony to the rough ground. He roared into Tony’s face. Tony took a chance and dragged his head down to seal their mouths together.

Ronon reared back, shocked, but he licked his lips as he stared at Tony, trying to make sense of the person who didn’t run from him, didn’t fight him.

Tony spread zyr legs, letting Ronon drop between. Zy carefully eased zyr hands over Ronon’s ass, pulling him against zyr as zy canted zyr hips.

“You want me, don’t you? You already know me, know how we fit together like this. Come back to me, _caro._ Take me, _dahrym,_ ” zy crooned.

Ronon frowned and growled, but it was less furious, more confused than anything.

Tony could feel Ronon’s cock getting hard through his leathers and zyr scrub pants, so at least there was more hope he wouldn’t kill zyr.

One hand went to Tony’s throat, but zy didn’t fight. Instead, zy tilted zyr head back and moaned softly, undulating beneath him.

Ronon grunted. He dragged zyr hand down Tony’s chest, scraping over zyr nipple. Zyr hypersensitivity made zyr shudder from discomfort, but zy hoped Ronon would think it was a shudder of pleasure.

“nnnnyyy—t-t-t—ohhh—T—oh—ny?”

Tony wanted to shout in triumph. Ronon was still in there! Now zy just had to get him to let the drug flip to lust and burn itself out.

“Yeah, Ronon, _amore mio_ , it’s me. It’s your Tony.”

“Mmmm—kissss. M’kyssss,” Ronon stuttered out his favorite term of endearment for Tony. “Mmmerah—ah. Mer—ah-ss—ka.”

“Yeah, _caro_ , I’m your kysra, your meraska.”

Ronon’s expression cleared further, though nowhere near sane, and he ground himself against zyr.

“Wa—aaa—want.”

“Good, that’s good. I want you too.”

“Noo—ww.”

“Yes, you can have me. Let’s go to over there, to the tent, okay?”

Ronon bellowed incoherently and snapped his teeth at zyr, furious at what he thought was denial.

“You can have me, husband, I just don’t want everyone around us to see you naked.” Calling attention to the Marines only a few yards away was a gamble, but Tony really didn’t want to get fucked on the hard ground with so many witnesses. “You don’t want them to see me, do you? You don’t want them to see me naked when you take me, do you, husband?”

This time, Ronon growled then bared his teeth in pure threat, but it wasn’t aimed at Tony. He stretched out over Tony, covering zyr as much as zy could.

“Yeah, me neither. Let’s go to the tent, okay? Then you can have me.”

Ronon snarled and gnashed his teeth in frustration. He crouched over Tony and pulled at zyr arm.

“You want me to go first?”

Ronon grunted.

Wary in case zy had read him wrong, Tony eased up and out from under Ronon, who shot to his feet as soon as Tony was up on one knee. He was still whipping his head around, growling and baring his teeth at anyone he thought was looking their way as he herded Tony toward the tent.

As soon as they were inside, Ronon tore at his own clothing, ripping off ties and snapping seams.

Tony shucked off zyr scrub pants and lay back in the soft furs and blankets, grateful for the padding between zyr and the hard ground. Zy was even more grateful when the pinned-open flap closed, guaranteeing zy wouldn’t have to deal with an audience when Ronon fucked zyr. It was bad enough that they would hear them.

Ronon shoved Tony’s legs open and settled himself between them, rubbing his hard cock against Tony’s pelvis and disinterested cock. He reached between them and touched zyr opening. Tony took a shuddering breath and braced zyrself, but Ronon stopped suddenly.

“T-tony. M’kyss-raa. Yyy—esss?”

Tony blinked back tears. Even drugged out of his mind, Ronon still wanted permission.

“Yes, _caro_. Always yes to you,” zy murmured, zyr hands coming up to hold his broad shoulders. “And you? Do you say yes?”

Ronon gave a predatory flash of teeth and hissed his consent too. Then he was pressing the head of his cock insistently against zyr opening.

Tony couldn’t help crying out when Ronon pushed through zyr tense muscles and thrust in to the hilt without any further preparation. Zy panted in short, sharp breaths through clenched teeth and tried to relax, tried to push back against him, anything to ease the burning pain. Zy blessed Atlantis for having had zyr prepare zyrself. Zy couldn’t imagine how bad it would be if zy hadn’t. Zy knew zy was making pained noises every time Ronon moved, but zy couldn’t help it. Tony had completely forgotten how bad sex could hurt. It was such an intimate, personal pain that it seemed a million times worse than being hit by a stray bullet.

Tears of pain escaped over zyr temples and into zyr hair and ears.

Ronon lay over zyr and pressed his face into zyr neck. He growled and snarled, flexing his hips. His entire body was shaking. Tony was certain that Ronon knew he was hurting zyr on some level, and he was doing his best to be careful.

“It’s okay,” Tony murmured, trying to comfort him. Zy hadn’t forgotten what Rodney had said the consequences were of trying to restrain Ronon physically, and zy had to assume that applied even if it was Ronon restraining himself.

Tony reminded zyrself that no matter what, this was zyr husband, the pater of their kyta. He was also the man zy loved and who loved zyr beyond all reason. Until now, every single time they had come together had brought Tony more physical pleasure than zy had known possible. Zy just had to relax.

It took time, but Tony finally could feel zyrself giving in, zyr body remembering along with zyr mind. Zy trembled, and zyr cloa started to relax. The burn faded, though it didn’t go away completely as it normally would’ve. Zy drew zyr knees up and slid zyr arms around Ronon, one going to the middle of his back and the other going to his ass.

His body was hot, much hotter than normal, even right after a workout or a vigorous bout of sex, and Tony knew it had to be the effect of the drug. It scared zyr and made zyr more determined to get him to let go and let the drug work its way through.

Tony canted zyr hips, and Ronon’s cock was suddenly pressed just right against zyr prostate. Zy shuddered hard and moaned.

“It’s alright, I love you, Ronon. Take what you need.”

Ronon growled a harsh, negative sound into zyr neck.

“Yeah, Ronon, it’s okay.” Tony began to move with him, guiding him into longer, deeper strokes. Zy could feel zyr body begin to flush with the start of arousal, though zyr natural slick hadn’t yet caught up.  Zy moaned softly. “It feels good now, _caro_. Love you, want you so much.”

Ronon propped himself on his forearms and stared down at zyr with eyes so dilated that only a sliver of hazel could be seen around his pupil. He had blood running down his chin from where he’d fought to restrain himself and had bitten into his lip.

“Yesss?”

“Yes, Ronon, move with me, make me come.”

Ronon stopped fighting his instincts and the poison. His thrusts turned savage. His hips snapped, unrelenting, shaking Tony and gradually pushing zyr up the bed of furs and blankets. Tony knew zy was going to have rug burn over zyr entire back, but that was the least of their worries. All that mattered was they came through it alive.

When Ronon came, it was with a yell that Tony was sure they heard all the way back on Atlantis. Zy hadn’t come, but that didn’t matter because Ronon’s cock was still hard, and he kept fucking into zyr, almost vicious. Eventually, constant stimulation drove Tony over the edge, and zy came between them with a deep groan.

Zy knew it wasn’t over, though. Ronon was still hard and thrusting madly, even as he slammed one fist into the blankets beside them and yelled wordlessly in frustration.

“You’re doing good, _caro_ ,” Tony panted. “That’s it, take what you need. I love you, Ronon. I’m right here.”

*~*~*~*

As soon as he saw Teyla dart out and close the tent flap, John turned to the teams he’d been sent for backup.

“Right. Edison, Rutherford, I want your teams on a perimeter circling that tent as far away as you can, but no more than twenty feet between each one of you. If you’re past the tree line, then cut that distance and make sure you keep each other within sight. We don’t want another poisoning. Do not, under any circumstances, let anyone inside that perimeter unless one of the Dexes requests them. I’m authorizing lethal force if absolutely necessary.”

No one moved or even blinked at that, so he assumed they’d all heard about the Athosians’ and the Lorains’ response to Tony and understood why zy was being so zealously protected.

John winced at the pained-filled sounds coming from the tent.

“Santiago, I need your team to go with a couple of the locals to find some of these poisonous mushrooms. You, medics!” he said when his eyes landed on the people he assumed Doc X had sent. “Toxicology?”

“I’m a mycologist with a specialization in phytopathology—uh, I know poisonous plants and mushrooms specifically, sir. I brought collection and rudimentary analysis equipment, but I’ll need to take samples back home for comprehensive analysis.”

“Good. Go with Santiago’s team.” John paused as he remembered. “Except you, Bricklaw. You’re an M.D. as well as a Lieutenant, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Work with the medic Doc X sent. We have injured people who need treatment. I also want a plan for treating the Dexes if we can’t move them. One of you had better be damned good at getting an IV in. Tony Dex hates them.” He met each person’s eyes in turn. “I probably don’t need to say this, but I’m going to do it anyway. You are deaf to anything you hear from inside the tent unless it is a call for assistance. There will be no discussion of these events, and your reports from today will come to me directly. Not even Major Lorne will know what happened here.”

Somebody made an amused sort of huffing sound, and John’s gaze snapped to the source.

“You find something funny, Cattaneo?”

The Italian Maggiore (the equivalent of a US Major) didn’t go so far as to roll his eyes, but he did smirk.

“I know poisoning; this is serious. Now that the _finocchio_ —how you say, the kysra, I think?—now that he has arrived, Ronon Dex will fuck the poison out of his system, no harm done, no?” He made a negligent motion with one hand.

John narrowed his eyes. “First, I’m certain the word you used doesn’t mean the same thing as kysra. Second, harm has been done to both Ronon and Tony. I will personally make sure your entire team has the US training on consent and personal agency before you go in the field again.” He had to clench his fist to keep from punching the asshole for even suggesting such stupidity. “If you don’t think you can do your duty to protect them and to keep your mouth shut, then you can go back right now.”

Cattaneo seemed puzzled as to why John was pissed. “Not necessary, sir. I can do my job.”

John glanced at Edison, the leader of Cattaneo’s team. Edison, tight-lipped with anger, nodded back. He would take care of the Maggiore before he said something that would get him killed on the city. Even now, more than one person was shooting deadly looks at the Italian soldier.

“See that you do. All of you, keep your traps shut about this; I don’t care what your personal thoughts are. I’m well aware of the kind of jokes that some people find amusing, but there will not be any jokes about this situation or about either of the people involved in the resolution to the problem.

“If I find out any of you have used this as fodder for gossip or entertainment, I’ll make you wish you were back in boot camp or whatever the equivalent in your country of origin. More than that, I will inform the First Lady—and you know I don’t mean the one back in Washington. I’m sure she has many ways she can express her displeasure for any disrespect to her favored people.”

“Colonel Sheppard, sir.”

“Yes, Dr. Bricklaw?”

“Sir, one of ours has been poisoned. No matter how this situation resolves today, we have no idea what the long-term effects of the poison are. I see nothing amusing about poisoning and incapacitating one of our best heavy assets. Anyone who does had better hope they don’t need me to save their bacon any time in the near future.”

“From what the locals have said, Ronon could still die,” Sergeant Lightstone cut in. “AR-1 was here to trade, and somebody set up Ronon to be raped or die. I’m inclined to shoot anyone who thinks that’s funny.”

“Well, let’s hope that’s not necessary, Sergeant.”

Lightstone gave him a sharp nod, then stared at Cattaneo while almost caressing her P90.

Well, John had said he hoped shooting people wasn’t necessary, but he hadn’t actually said she _couldn’t_ shoot the idiot. From the way Red Eagle was looking between Lightstone and Cattaneo, he had plans to help her hide the body.

John finished giving orders and put Rutherford in charge. Then he headed back to the area the villagers had isolated themselves after that last moron had tried to get himself killed by running when Tony was just starting to get through to Ronon.

“What the hell are you doing here, McKay?” he demanded. “I told you to send Tony and the teams, then get your ass to the infirmary.”

John knew Rodney had hurt his shoulder when Ronon had sent him flying over a table and across the tent, and he probably had cracked ribs.

Rodney and Teyla both turned from where they were talking to the Karthoran leader. Ironically, the Karthoran word for leader was Thorn. Rodney’s chin went up, and John knew he wasn’t going to like what came out of his mouth next.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Rodney,” John glared at him, trying to communicate his displeasure silently. As usual, it was lost on the scientist. “Seriously, you need to get checked out.”

“I’m fine.”

“I have tried to convince Rodney to return home multiple times,” Teyla explained, exasperated. “He has insisted that he will stay until Tony and Ronon are able to return as well.”

“I’m fine!” Rodney snapped, but then ruined it a second later when he winced as he tried to draw in a deep enough breath to get a good rant going. “Tony’s here. I’m _not_ leaving. I’ll be fine.”

“You know we’ll take care of them, so it’s not like you’re leaving them here alone,” John told him, trying to reason with him even though he knew it was like pounding his head against a wall. “Tony wouldn’t want you not to take care of yourself just to wait around while they, uh, work things out.”

“No.”

John wanted to throw his hands in the air. Or strangle Rodney. Or both. They weren’t necessarily conflicting impulses.

“You didn’t have a problem going back that time you got shot in the ass. What’s the diff—”

Rodney hissed, “Zy’s my ayah!”

The entire village went silent, their attention suddenly on Rodney. Well, so much for all their efforts getting everyone out of the way so Tony didn’t get outed. If the appalled look on Rodney’s face was any indication, he knew just how badly he’d screwed up. John knew it never would’ve happened if he hadn’t been in enough pain he wasn’t thinking straight, plus scared out of his mind for Tony.

“Excuse me,” Thorn Krovt said, his expression torn between fear and hope. “You speak as though—you speak as though your friend is—” His voice trailed off as he looked from John to Rodney to Teyla and back. “—kysra,” he finally breathed.

“Ronon is _not_ kysra,” Teyla stated firmly.

“He is Satedan, though. I recall he said so before,” one of the nearby women offered.

“He is,” Teyla agreed, trying to lead them away from Tony. “When the Wraith destroyed Sateda, they made Ronon a Runner. He survived for seven years before he came to live with us.”

The Thorn’s wife came closer. “But your unhappy friend did not refer to Ronon. He referred to his mate.” She rested her hand on her husband’s forearm. “Tony, I think I heard. Tony is Ronon’s meraska?”

“Tony and Ronon are married,” John tried to deflect the question. “We told you we’d bring Ronon’s spouse to try to redirect the zahrc poison, and that’s what’s happening. I’d think you’d be happy about that, since it means Ronon isn’t destroying your stuff or trying to kill your people anymore.

“Now me, _I’m_ more interested in exactly how Ronon got poisoned in the first place. What have you found out?”

*~*~*~*

In the middle of the night and what felt like years later, the village was still buzzing with the rumors of a kysra, and John wanted to be sick. There was a young woman (someone barely out of her teen years, if John was any judge) who had admitted that she and her friend had joked about feeding Ronon the zahrc spores so he would desire one or both of them, but she adamantly denied that either of them had followed through on it. Her sobbing confession had made John want to believe her, but he couldn’t afford to take her at her word.

She presently had her hands and feet bound with zip ties, and she was under the watch of the Thorn’s wife and three other women. She was in for a bad night, but it could have been worse. If John hadn’t ordered them not to kill her, he was quite certain they would have slit her throat already, just so they could offer her head to Ronon and Tony whenever the two were able to emerge from the tent.

It was highly probably that the women would have done whatever they damned well pleased no matter what John had said, but once again Teyla had proven her worth as a negotiator. She had argued that, as the wronged parties, Ronon and Tony should be the ones to decide her fate. She reminded them that among many people, including the Satedans and the Athosians, being cast out and left on an unknown world was a longer, more painful death sentence. The women seemed quite pleased at that thought and probably would have tried to slip past them to throw her onto a random planet. Luckily for the accused, Atlantis was keeping the Stargate busy so no one could dial in or out until Tony and Ronon were ready to be transported home.

The young woman’s friend had run away and was being tracked by Santiago and her team, now that the mushrooms, spores and all, and the mushroom-toxin guy were back on the city so the poison could be analyzed. If she hadn’t been killed or eaten by the massive boar things that roamed the woods, she was probably having a better night than her friend, who was still being subjected to the women discussing the possible planets they were thinking of leaving her on and speculating about whether she’d die or be found by slave traders first.

Yeah, it was psychological torture, but at least she was alive to hear it. Better, John could hear them and knew they weren’t dragging her off to be murdered somewhere.

Rodney moved up to John’s side, moving stiffly. He’d repeatedly refused to go home, so John was just done with talking to him about it. He’d known Rodney and Tony were close, especially with how preoccupied John had been with trying to get the military side of things in order, and with how absent Teyla had been between Lorne and getting her people set up on the city. Ronon, of course, was busy with training, Tony, and helping the Athosians…not necessarily in that order.

John was more than a little concerned at the frankly rabid devotion Rodney was showing the kysra. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. He was afraid his friend was going to get his heart broken metaphorically if not physically when Ronon found out. There was no way Tony was going to be interested in anyone but Ronon, and the two weren’t looking for a third that John knew of. Even if they were, Ronon wouldn’t want it to be Rodney.

There were times John wished he could fake sexual desire and be what Rodney needed, but it just wasn’t in him to do that to either of them. They’d eventually resent each other and lose everything, including their friendship.

“I didn’t realize Pegasus had a such a prolific slave trade,” Rodney said, low and unhappy.

“No. I didn’t either. Probably should have known.”

“Why?”

John didn’t want to go into all he’d seen in his experience with the military, so what he said was, “All some of these people have to trade are their bodies, especially if their crops or hunting doesn’t go well more than a year in a row.”

“Oh,” Rodney replied. “I guess I was just naïve. I thought that if Pegasus had the Wraith, then they wouldn’t have human monsters. I was so wrong. They have the Genii, who think they’re Rome and the Godfather all in one; an apparently booming slave trade; and the Wraith worshipers, who just freak me out completely. What else is there out here?”

“I don’t know.” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

John looked out into the darkness, the blue-white event horizon of the Gate was the only light. His people were on watch surrounding the tent, but he was watching them. He was also watching the shadows for any odd movements or changes.

“Tony talked to me a little about what Teyla and Ronon talked to you about that time.”

It took John a second to figure out what Rodney was hinting at. Then it dawned on him: the scavenging of planets the Wraith had culled to the extinction of the human population. He glanced at the other man, whose brow was furrowed above his black eye, frowning so hard he was in danger of splitting open his lip again.

“I didn’t really think much about it, other than the possible tech, of course.”

That wasn’t a huge surprise to John.

“But now…? Well, now I think that maybe if we did that, then when we came across people who’d had those bad years, we could help them out. If we had the extra, I mean. And _she’d_ help us so we could make stuff last as long as possible, so we’d probably always have something extra.”

Both John’s eyebrows rose into his hairline, he was so surprised. He knew Rodney wasn’t heartless; far from it. The man was so hard on everyone under his authority because he was terrified something he should have fixed or seen or anticipated wouldn’t be fixed when they needed it, and people would die. He’d taken what happened to Aiden Ford a hell of a lot harder than he’d ever shared with anyone.

But to hear him talking about helping people he’d never met was something new. It was a level of compassion John hadn’t anticipated at all, not aimed at strangers.

“That’s a good idea, Rodney.”

Rodney looked over at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. We won’t be able to help—” or save “—everybody, but there will be some. We should do what we can.”

Rodney actually smiled, then had to reach up and stem the trickle of blood from his lip.

John had been putting it off because he was anticipating the _Daedalus_ and a change of orders, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get things headed in the right direction before he was forced to leave.

Turning back to watching his people and the shadows, John resolved to talk to Carter, Teyla, and Ronon. They’d start with New Athos, then move on to former Sateda as soon as possible.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_Keplerday, YangHui 21, First Year of the Returned  
(May 21, 2008)_

Tony had been awake for several minutes, but zy didn’t open zyr eyes, move, or make any noise. Zy needed to assess zyr body and the situation before zy called for anyone.

From what Rodney had told them about the poison, Tony had expected uncontrolled violence. Zy had expected to be fucked, bruised, and perhaps broken. Zy knew zyr body was covered in bruises, scratches, and any number of dried fluids. Zy knew zy was sore, so very sore, but it could have been much, much worse.

As the poison had worked its way through Ronon, he had pitted his fierce will against it, and he’d won far more often than he’d lost. What had happened between them wasn’t what either of them preferred or enjoyed, but nothing had happened that was unforgivable. Ronon had been rough, but the man had kept fighting his way through the madness and, after that first time, he’d been able to find relief between Tony’s thighs rather than within zyr most times.

Physically, the worst thing for Tony was the deep bite mark between zyr neck and shoulder. Emotionally, the worst was remembering the look on Ronon’s face when he would break through the drug completely and realize what was happening, yet not be able to control his own body to stop it. It almost would’ve been better for him to have remained in the fog of the poison.

Tony was intelligent enough to know zy and Ronon both would have nightmares from the experience well after their bodies healed, but they would get through it. Tony refused to believe anything else. There was no way in hell zy was giving up what zy’d found with Ronon over some mushroom spores and a single night of not-great sex.

“Tony? Ronon?”

If zy hadn’t already been lying down, Tony would have sagged with relief at the familiar voice.

Zy had to work to clear zyr throat several times before zy was able to rasp out, “Doc.”

The tent flap opened, and Doc Xander crouched down to slip inside, the flap closing behind him. Xander’s dark eyes swiftly surveyed the scene and took in the physical state of Tony’s body, then Ronon’s, who was lying unconscious beside zyr. He managed to do that with a dispassionate, analytical air, then meet Tony’s eyes with the gentle compassion he’d always shown.

The ability to be both dispassionate and compassionate was a paradox very few doctors were capable of, but the few who were seemed to be the ones who had seen the worst of humanity yet cared about the individual people that made up a community enough to want to heal any they could. Tony supposed Xander had gained that sort of experience during his lifetime of humanitarian work.

After opening a canteen and helping Tony drink, he carefully asked, “Do you believe you have any trauma to your internal organs?”

“No.” Even in the worst moments, Tony and Ronon had both been careful to protect the kyta, which was what Doc Xander was really asking.

“Alright. The Great Lady, as some have taken to calling her, has spoken. She has prepared a place of healing for you both. We only need to get you through the gate, and she will beam you to the room.” Xander stuck his head out the tent opening and said something to whoever was waiting out there. A cervical collar and a couple emergency thermal blankets were handed to him. “She may want to speak to you, but she will likely just put you to sleep—unless you object, of course.”

“That’s fine. I don’t need the collar.”

Xander lifted one dark brow. “Oh, truly? Have you gained your medical degree overnight, then? No? I thought not.”

Tony grumbled something that Xander ignored as he spread one blanket over Tony and the other over Ronon. He knee-walked around to zyr head and deftly fitted the collar around zyr neck.

“The Lady herself gave me explicit instructions for how you were to be prepared and then transported back home. It would take a far greater fool than I to disobey such a worthy advocate. Now be still, please.”

Tony pouted. “Is that Doc Xander language for ‘she came into the infirmary in person and scared the crap out of me?’”

Xander moved to examine Ronon. He was still unconscious, which worried Tony a lot more than zyr own condition.

“I wouldn’t say she ‘scared the crap out of me,’ but she certainly left an impression.” He paused and allowed his amusement to light his eyes and curl his lips. “She also may have made mention of force feeding me mushy peas for the rest of my days. After that, my capitulation to her every request was certain.”

Tony snickered in spite of the uncomfortable cervical collar.

“Now, I have brought some Tylenol-3 with me. Do you wish me to administer it?”

“No,” Tony immediately refused. “I’m really not that bad off, Doc, especially if I’m just going to the gate and then getting put into dreamland by our favorite Lady.”

Xander’s lips twitched. “Very well. I’m certain she has something better in mind at any rate. Just a few more quick questions, and then you’ll be on your way.”

That was a relief, though zy wondered how zy was supposed to get to the gate without any clothes, and with a giant thing stuck on zyr neck.

“Do you have any objection to the Lady putting you to sleep and transporting you to be healed as soon as you arrive?”

“Nah, that’s fine. I’m more worried about Ronon than me.”

Doc Xander made a noncommittal sound, then continued, “Is there anyone to whom you wish me to convey information on your status?”

“Rodney,” Tony replied immediately. “I know he’s probably still freaked out, so make sure to tell him I’m fine, and you and ‘the Lady’ are both worrywarts.” Zy ignored Xander’s rather undignified snort. “John and Carter, Wolfe too, probably, since he was there when Rodney came through the gate looking for me. Nothing specific, but let them know that I’m okay, kyta’s okay, and I’ll see them as soon as I’m finished with my naptime.”

“As you wish, Tony.” Doc Xander agreed. “Last question: I do require assistance to care for you and Ronon. Dr. Nevin Bricklaw is on SR-1. He has been here the entire night, and he would like to take over getting you through the gate. I swear upon my honor that he is trustworthy. He is an excellent physician and will do his utmost to get you home with the least amount of discomfort. Are you willing to allow him to do so in order that I could stay behind and organize Ronon’s care?”

Tony realized zy couldn’t shrug with the stupid collar on. “Yeah, sure. If you trust him, then I do too. I’ll need some clothes though, first.”

Doc Xander made another one of those sounds that didn’t say anything and knee-walked back to the tent flap. This time, Tony heard him call for Bricklaw and a backboard. A young man with olive skin and eyes as dark as Doc Xander’s crouched and moved into the tent, then reached out and maneuvered the backboard in and directly beside Tony.

“Aww, naw!” Tony complained. “I don’t need that. I’d take a hand getting up, but I really don’t need to be hauled out of here on one of those.”

“Hello, Tony,” Bricklaw said, offering a smile. “I’m Nevin Bricklaw, as Doc Xander has already told you. I’m sure he also told you the Lady has issued her orders. The doc said something about unspeakable consequences to him if we try to do it any other way, so I’d consider it a personal favor if you’d just work with us. Will you allow my team to come in and help me get you on here?”

Tony groaned, zyr face flushing hot with embarrassment. Zy wondered when mushy peas became unspeakable consequences, but zy knew there was no use arguing with the doctors. And maybe, just maybe it might be okay if this time zy didn’t have to tough it out and pretend to be perfectly fine. Just this time, though.

“Yeah, fine. But be prepared for me to whine about it. A lot.”

“I can live with that,” Bricklaw agreed. He moved back to the tent opening and called for the rest of his team. “Okay, zy’s actually in a good spot on this fur, so I say take the whole thing. The leather back will stick to the backboard, and it’ll keep us from jostling zyr around more than necessary.”

The others—two men and a woman—gave him sharp nods, and they positioned themselves around zyr. Tony sighed, but allowed them to lift zyr onto the backboard.

“This isn’t going to work. We’re not going to try to drag zyr through that opening,” the woman announced, her English barely accented with what Tony thought was Spanish—the Spain version, not Latin American.

“Agreed,” Bricklaw said.

“Lt. Sherman, cut a better opening.”

The other man made a questioning noise, and the woman shook her head.

“I don’t give a damn what the locals think. Cut the opening there,” she pointed at the tent wall above Tony’s head. “We won’t have to turn around that way.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sherman responded, whipping out a K-Bar and making quick work of the side of the tent.

“Fur inside, then put the thermal blanket over and tuck it just under zyr, make sure you get around zyr feet,” Bricklaw instructed. Once he was satisfied, he told Tony, “Okay. We’re going to lift you, then walk you to the jumper, which is just a few feet away. We’ll go through the gate, you’ll be beamed to wherever the Lady wants, and then we’ll come back and burn everything here to ash. No trace, nothing for anybody to see or use.”

“Good plan,” Tony said.

Zy approved of not leaving behind anything for people to get weird over for any reason.

The team was just as careful as they and Doc Xander had promised. It wasn’t long before Tony was hearing John’s voice alerting Atlantis that they were coming, and then zy was home. Atlantis was in zyr mind, feeling like sorrow and determination and relief all at once.

//I am sorry, beloved Tony. You will sleep now, and you will be well when you wake.//

*~*~*~*

True to her word, when Tony awoke the next time, zy was completely healed. There was no pain or discomfort anywhere. Zyr hands went to the Bump. Zy tugged the thin t-shirt up and pushed down the track pants so zy could touch and cradle the slight swell.

//You and zy are both well.//

Tony knew zy wasn’t in zyr own bed, but zy instinctively reached out for Ronon anyway.

//He is sleeping.//

“He’s okay?” Tony whispered.

//He is physically well.//

Atlantis’ careful tone told Tony more than she probably thought. Zy knew Ronon would be blaming zyrself, and it wouldn’t matter what anyone told him. Tony hoped that zy would be able to convince him it wasn’t his fault, that zy didn’t blame him in the least.

“Where?”

//Sleeping three feet to your left,// she replied. //I encourage you to sleep more first.//

Yeah, right. Zy was just going to leave zyr husband to wake up in emotional hell so zy could take a little nap. It was like she hadn’t met zyr.

Tony cautiously sat up, testing zyr muscles and joints. Nothing hurt, not even zyr hip joints, which had been achy for what felt like forever. If Atlantis had done something about that, zy wasn’t going to complain.

Zy pulled the neck of the t-shirt wide so zy could look at the spot Ronon had bitten. Nothing. The skin was perfect.

//The marks from the incident are gone. Tissue is easy to repair when the wound is so fresh. The only scars you will carry will be the ones in your mind and on your heart. I would give much to be able to heal those, but I’m afraid only time can do that.//

“I know, but try not to feel too bad. I knew what I was getting myself into. It’s Ronon who didn’t have a choice.”

Zy kicked the blankets away and slid to the edge of the bed. Zy put weight on one foot, then the other, using the bed to balance at first, just in case, but then standing on zyr own. Zy stretched and twisted, reveling in being able to do so without getting those twinges in zyr hips and up zyr spine.

Once zy had done that, zy felt able to walk over to Ronon’s bed.

Zyr husband was lying on his back, his hands folded neatly over his chest. He looked more like a corpse than he did a living, breathing person. Tony climbed into bed with him, tucking zyrself up against him and bringing the covers up over them both before draping zyr arm over Ronon’s abdomen.

Ah, that was better. Okay, so maybe getting into bed with Ronon had been for Tony too, just a little. And the kyta. Zy was positive the kyta liked being between zyr dada and papa. Or zy would just as soon as zy stopped doing zyr caterpillar-in-a-cocoon impression.

Tony dozed for a long while before Ronon finally started moving toward awareness. Zyr husband groaned, turned on his side, and pulled zyr into his embrace as if zy were a giant, furless teddy bear. Zy was immensely relieved that zyr unthinking reaction was to slide zyr knee between his and bring their bodies tightly together, just as zy would have done any other time they were curled up together in bed.

Zy had worried that zyr instincts wouldn’t trust Ronon the same after seeing him so crazed and being hurt if not truly wounded at his hands. However, it seemed zyr instincts knew as much as zyr conscious mind that what had happened hadn’t been Ronon’s fault, and it wouldn’t be repeated. Fully awake, Tony kissed him softly, his cheek, his forehead, the tip of his nose, and finally his lips.

Ronon muttered something indistinct and wrinkled his nose, making Tony chuckle.

Ronon opened one eye half way, his full lips curving softly.

“Whas’safunny?”

Tony let all zyr love shine in zyr face. Zy cupped Ronon’s cheek and kissed the tip of his nose again, making him make that same face, then pressed their lips together.

Ronon hummed, his hand coming to the back of Tony’s head, holding zyr gently as they kissed, gently but thoroughly, their lips and tongues moving together in a slow dance of mutual love and adoration.

Zy felt the second Ronon remembered why they were in bed together. His entire body stilled and went tense, and Tony could feel his heart start racing where zyr hand was resting against his neck. Zy drew back, intimately familiar with the onset of a panic attack.

“We’re okay, _caro_. We made it through the poison, and we’re safe. Atlantis is watching over us.”

Ronon made a horrible, agonized sound, as if his still-beating heart were being ripped from his chest.

Tony began running zyr hands over his face, neck, chest, and down his side as far as zy could reach without untangling their legs or sitting up.

“It’s alright, dahrym. Try to breathe. Just listen to my voice, and I’ll help you through this, too. We’re home. We’re safe. Everything is going to be alright.”

Tony continued on in that vein for some time. Ronon’s panic attacks weren’t any less severe than zyr own; he just had different symptoms. It wasn’t until Ronon tucked his head beneath Tony’s chin and curled around zyr that zy let zyr reassurances trail off.

“H—h—how can you stand to let me touch you?” Ronon finally managed just as Tony was finger-combing his long, curly hair. Zy could feel zyr shirt becoming damp beneath Ronon’s silent tears. “I ra—”

“No!” Tony cut him off. “No, you didn’t. I don’t know how much you remember, but I came to you knowing that you’d been poisoned. I knew what would happen, and I was willing, _caro._ I’d be willing to do far more than that to make sure you survived.”

“But I forced—”

Tony cut him off again. “No. You never forced me. In fact, you fought your way past the poison before you even touched me below the waist. I had to tell you yes _twice_ before you believed me. Then all through the night, every time you’d manage to fight your way to lucidity, you kept asking me again. I told you ‘yes’ in every language I know. If anything, I’m the one who forced you. You were drugged, which means you were incapable of giving consent.”

Ronon raised his head to look at zyr, horrified at the thought that zy might be feeling guilt.

“No, m’kysra. Never! Please believe, you weren’t at fault for anything that happened. Don’t take that on your shoulders.”

Tony nodded and brushed away the dampness beneath Ronon’s eyes with zyr thumbs.

“Then the same goes for you, dahrym. By the time I got there, you’d already broken one hand and probably other bones I couldn’t tell as easily, since they weren’t sticking through the skin. You had no choice. It was _my_ choice to try to turn the violence to lust until it could run its course.”

Ronon seemed to think about that. His gaze dropped to the neck of zyr t-shirt.

“I hurt you. I bit you,” he whispered harshly.

“Hmm.” Tony shrugged the shoulder that wasn’t pressed against the bed. “I think it was more like my shoulder got in the way of your teeth.”

Ronon was staring in horror, so Tony sighed and pushed aside the neck of zyr shirt so he could see the skin beneath.

“Look. Nothing.  Not a trace. You see? It wasn’t very bad, and Atlantis fixed me up in nothing flat.”

Ronon reached out with a shaking hand. Tony tilted zyr head and purposely moved into his touch. Even so, Ronon’s fingers were so light on zyr skin that it made zyr shiver.

He jerked his hand back.

“It’s alright.” Tony took Ronon’s fingers and pressed them against the place the bite had been. “See? You were just touching me too lightly. This is better.”

When he finished running his fingers over the pristine skin, Ronon stared into Tony’s eyes.

“You’re alright? You promise?”

“I swear, Ronon, I’m perfectly fine. I’m more worried about you.”

“Me?”

“Of course, you. You were poisoned.” Zy wondered if it was wise to ask, but they needed to know. “Do you have any idea how it happened?”

Ronon rolled onto his back, his brow furrowed as he tried to remember. Tony immediately snuggled into him again, knowing it was essential he not feel like Tony was reluctant or afraid to touch him.

“I…. Everything’s weird. Disjointed.”

He stopped there, so Tony hummed zyr understanding and kissed the skin beneath zyr cheek.

“I remember walking. I remember walking and being bored, so I started teasing Teyla about Lorne. I think she threatened me with making me try to learn meditation. Again.”

Tony huffed a laugh. That sounded about right.

“Then there’s nothing until we’re eating. It was soup, vegetables and a ton of those mushrooms we were trying to trade for. There were different sizes, and I remember thinking they’d picked some of them too soon because it tasted bitter, and I didn’t think it was supposed to be bitter.” He sounded confused. “I got hot, so hot it felt like my skin was on fire, like my brain was burning inside my skull. Angry. Didn’t know why. I think…I think I remember…. Did I hurt Rodney?”

“You tossed him across the tent and gave him a black eye, but nothing major,” Tony informed him lightly. Zy noticed again that Rodney had become ‘Rodney’ not ‘McKay’ when Ronon spoke of him. If zy’d known all it would take to get to the two to stop snapping at each other was for zyr to have a breakdown in front of them, zy would’ve done it months ago. “He’s going to whine at you and try to get out of his self-defense lessons, but Atlantis is going to heal him, so don’t you dare let him get away with it.”

Tony assumed Atlantis was going to heal him. If she hadn’t already, she’d better do it now. Tony was not having Ronon feeling any guilt if it was avoidable.

Ronon snorted. “I’ll just tell him he must need lessons more often if he couldn’t get out of the way in time.”

“That sounds like a great plan,” Tony smiled. Zy sobered and gently probed, “Anything else?”

Ronon’s amusement faded. “Flashes. Running through the trees. Rage. Then you. You didn’t want to fight. Then I figured out what else I could do with you, and that was it. I only remember the smell inside the tent—I assume that’s where we were. Your skin. Being inside you. My hands on you. Biting you. Being so thirsty I thought I’d die with it. Finally feeling the heat go away. Then nothing until now.”

Well, that wasn’t very helpful except to confirm that Ronon’s food was the source of the drug.

“Doesn’t help, does it?”

“Not much,” Tony replied honestly. “Atlantis, you must know more by now. Tell us everything from the time I left for the planet.”

Atlantis did so, telling them all the things Tony knew, and several zy didn’t, like there were suspects who were cooling their heels in the DC because John didn’t trust the people on the planet not to lop off their heads like they thought they were the Queen of Hearts at Alice’s tea party.

//Thus, you and Ronon must take the two girls back to the planet to render judgement. Whether or not they are guilty, their people believe they are.//

That required a great deal of debate, some of it heated, before they could come to a possible compromise.

Atlantis finished with, //Doc Xander has said to tell you that when you decide you are willing to come to the infirmary, he will trade you a full checkup on both of you for fifteen minutes with the ALI so you may watch the kyta and reassure yourselves zy is well.//

Tony groaned. Zy didn’t even have to look at Ronon to know the thought of looking at their kyta again would have him lit up like Time’s Square on New Year’s.

“Well, we might as well get the exams over,” zy surrendered, knowing it would make everyone feel better if Doc Xander and Atlantis both could confirm all three of them were totally recovered physically. Then Tony would talk to the two young women, and they would have to decide where to go from there.

*~*~*~*

_Gaussday, YangHui 22, First Year of the Returned  
(May 22, 2008)_

The next morning, AR-1, Tony, and SR-1 & 2, returned to Dakaroth in two jumpers. Jumper 8 held the SR teams and the two young women, Ren and Jora, since Ronon didn’t want them near him or Tony whether they were guilty or not.

The jumpers landed, and Tony waited for the SR teams to set the perimeter at John’s direction. Teyla and Rodney stood over the two young women, who had fallen to their knees and were crying silently at the sight of Tony and Ronon walking toward them.

It took hardly any time at all before the Karthoran people were gathered around them.

Tony looked out over the crowd and didn’t like what zy saw in the least. There was anger, yes, but there was a lot of excitement too, as if it were some kind of entertainment the way a public execution would have been in Earth’s history. There were children bouncing around among the adults, laughing and playing some variation of tag. No one chided them or told them this was a serious occasion.

No one had come forward to claim or defend the girls, either. Zy saw more than one person with a large stone or what zy assumed were rotten fruit or vegetables. This was _not_ what zy wanted.

Atlantis herself knew Tony didn’t want to be part of the kysra worship thing Pegasus had going on. Zy didn’t want to be some avatar of the gods. Zy didn’t even understand why all of Pegasus seemed to believe that the return of the kysra would bring back the Vedaeus, and if that happened, all humanity would be saved. Zy didn’t get it when obviously the Vedaeus hadn’t done anything to stop the Wraith the first time around.

It was too bad that Pegasus didn’t care about what zy thought about their logic, even if zy could stand being the person who took away their hope.

Huh.

Maybe that was it. No being any of these people had ever come across had been strong enough to defeat the Wraith, not even the Alterans. Those assholes weren’t coming back anytime soon, so all the people had to believe in, to give them hope was the thought that if kysra returned, then maybe the Vedaeus would return too. If the Vedaeus came back, then maybe they would care about more than their own people this time.

Fuck, that was a heavy weight Tony did not want on zyr shoulders, but if that’s what it took to see real justice done instead of the travesty the Karthorans were planning? Well, zy would have to suck it up and be the fabled kysra returned. As it was, zy was going to have to change zyr and Ronon’s plans and hope he forgave zyr later. Teyla too, for that matter.

Tony stepped forward, putting zyrself between the girls and the Karthorans. Ronon literally growled as he moved beside zyr. Tony just took his hand and squeezed his fingers, hoping he’d get the message and go along with zyr.

“Hello,” zy said, subjecting them all to zyr most charming grin. If they wanted a show, zy was going to give them one.

“Greetings, Tony, is it?”

“Yes. I’m Tony Dex. You are Thorn Krovt?”

“I am indeed,” he smiled, staring between zyr and Ronon. “I see you and your mate are much recovered.”

“Of course,” Tony affected a surprised look. “The Old Ones would never leave us to suffer from whatever poison that was.”

Zy tilted zyr head back to smile adoringly at Ronon. He gritted his teeth at zyr where they couldn’t see but played along, pressing a kiss to zyr forehead.

There was a collective gasp that told zyr they were picking up on what zy was blatantly throwing out there. Tony could suddenly hear John and the other two leaders coordinating over their comms, bringing the perimeter in since Tony had “lost zyr damn mind. This is _not_ what we said would happen, Dex!”

It was just as well, since the people seemed stunned for several seconds, then tried to surge toward zyr.

“Hey! Back off!” John yelled. He sent Tony another blistering rebuke with just his gaze.

Ronon had his gun out and pointed at the Thorn.

“I can see you’re excited, but I’m afraid you’ll have to keep your distance. My husband and my protectors don’t allow anyone to get very close to me, as you can see,” Tony said, continuing to smile like what was happening was exactly what zy’d planned.

It took several minutes to push the crowd back to an acceptable distance, even with the jumpers at Tony’s back and the two SR teams holding the perimeter. The Thorn and his wife were the only ones left very close, and even they had stepped back about two meters.

“Please, Kysra, allow us to take these two who poisoned your husband. We will take them away and see that they are swiftly punished,” the Thorn’s wife offered much too eagerly.

“Oh, I absolutely plan to have the person or people who poisoned my husband punished, but it’s not these two girls.”

That caused more murmuring among the crowd.

“Truly?” The woman looked like Tony had Gibbs-slapped her.

“But they admitted to speaking of doing exactly what happened. It isn’t that I doubt your word, but are you certain, Kysra?”

“Very.”

“I see.”

“Not yet, but you will. In fact, you will help me.”

“Of course we will help you, Kysra,” the Thorn assured zyr. “Tell us, and we will do it!”

“I need you to tell me the name of the one who poisoned my husband.” At their confused looks, zy lowered zyr voice, forcing everyone to lean closer and stay quiet to hear zyr, and continued, “You probably already know the person we’re looking for, if you’d think about it just a moment. This person lost someone dear to them since the Wraith awakened. They are angry a great deal of the time, but they try to hide it behind jokes that have the potential for true harm. They would have been utterly furious that you were considering giving my chosen people another chance to negotiate for your crops of _jattak16_ and _rok17_ , but they only would’ve objected once, then settled back and tried to stir up trouble among the younger ones so that they would do his work for him.”

The Thorn and his wife exchanged worried glances.

“I thought so. You know exactly who he is, don’t you?”

“Are you a seer as well as a kysra?” the Thorn’s wife whispered, her eyes wide.

Tony gave them an enigmatic smile. It wasn’t like zy was going to explain that zy’d spent a couple hours interrogating the girls. Once zy was convinced of their innocence, zy spent a whole lot longer just talking to them. Neither of them had known just how much zy had been able to learn about them, their people, and the person likely to have poisoned Ronon.

A young man, probably in his twenties, broke away from the crowd with a furious yell. “I didn’t know! I didn’t know he was a kysra’s chosen!”

Tony wasn’t totally surprised to see it was the same man who had darted out and distracted Ronon when Tony had been getting through to him in spite of the poison that first time.

“Restrain him!” The Thorn ordered, and two of what Tony assumed were some kind of guard headed toward him.

The man’s anger quickly turned to panic. He grappled with the guards and somehow managed to get ahold of an energy weapon.

“They woke the Wraith! They don’t deserve to have a kysra among them!” the man raged. “They took _everything_ from me, so now I’m going to take everything from them.”

“Tony!” Ronon snarled.

Zy knew exactly what he was demanding, and zy dropped to one knee in a defensive position behind zyr husband. Zy didn’t like it, but zy knew zy had to accept that zyr role wasn’t being the protector, not when they were away from the city. Besides, protecting Tony would give Ronon something to help balance the guilt that was killing him because of what had happened with the poison.

Tony stayed close to the ground, watchful with zyr own P90 up and ready in case someone else thought the distraction would be a good time to do something stupid.

Several voices called out to the man, yelling at him to drop his weapon, ordering him to surrender.

There was a shot, and a cry of pain from one of the villagers. Then the distinctive sound of Ronon’s weapon firing a single time.

It had all been so fast that the crowd hadn’t had a chance to panic and descend into chaos.

“It’s done,” Ronon said, his voice full of grim satisfaction.

Tony was very careful to maintain a blank expression as zy accepted Ronon’s hand and stood. Zy wouldn’t undermine Ronon’s decision even if zy wished the man hadn’t had to die.

The Thorn had pushed his wife behind himself. As he turned to gather her into his arms, they both looked to Tony and Ronon.

“Is the Kysra pleased?”

“No,” Tony said softly but firmly. Zy let zyr eyes skim over the crowd, who quickly became quiet once more.

The Thorn went still. “No?”

Zy met the man’s eyes steadily. “No, Thorn Krovt. I am not pleased because every life is precious to me. My husband eliminated a threat that could not be permitted to continue. That man’s anger was driving him to more dangerous, more harmful so-called jokes every day. It was only a matter of time before he killed someone. It was fate that made my husband his final target. That doesn’t mean I’m pleased that a man, our fellow human, lost his life.”

Searching the faces of the villagers, zy continued, “If we don’t care for and value each other, then what makes us better than the Wraith?”

That earned zyr several frowns and a few grumbled protests. Good.

“You know, it’s obvious the Wraith aren’t human. They don’t think like we do. In fact, they see us as particularly stubborn food animals that they have the right to cull because they’re stronger, smarter, and essentially superior to us in every way. Our individual lives don’t matter at all, other than if we’re useful to them.”

A few were nodding, their anger obvious in their faces and in the low murmuring that had started.

“So what does it mean if we treat each other no better? It seems to me that if we rejoice in the death of a human, _any_ human, then we prove the Wraith are right, and we are just animals who kill each other without the capacity to understand the concept of justice much less the desire to see it done.”

It was silent for a two beats, then Tony heard the sound of a large stone falling to the ground at someone’s feet. Then another, and another.

“That’s not who I want to be. What about you? No, stop it!” zy commanded when they started glancing around. “Don’t look at your neighbor, your spouse, or anyone else. Decide for yourself. Do you want to prove the Wraith right, or do you want to be someone who cares about justice, someone who shows compassion to your fellow humans because it’s the _right_ thing to do?”

After a moment of silence where zy stared down the most resistant of them until they dropped their gazes, Tony let zyrself relax zyr stern expression and stepped over to the two girls still cowering on the ground. Zy held out a hand to each of them.

“Get up, ladies.”

Ronon and John were immediately there to help the girls to their feet.

Their hands still in zyrs, Tony lead them back to where the Thorn and his wife still stood.

“Ren and Jora spoke foolish words two days ago,” zy began. “There’s no way to know if my husband would have been targeted in the same way, but it’s likely that they were overheard by a man whose mind had been broken by the loss of his loved one. Words have power, my friends.”

“Yes, Kysra Tony,” Thorn Krovt agreed immediately. “They must be punished.”

Even Ronon couldn’t hide his surprise when Tony nodded.

“Absolutely, Thorn.”

Ren and Jora began to weep softly.

“As terrible as what happened was, it is a good reminder for us all that what we say has meaning, power beyond what we might think. Words can give life or bring death. Since Ren and Jora’s words could have caused death two days ago, then it’s only right that they repay that mistake by bringing life, correct?”

“Surely,” the Thorn agreed cautiously.

“I spoke with both these young women for quite some time. Is it true that your only healer was culled not long ago?”

“It is.”

“Then this is my judgement: Ren and Jora will return with me. They will take up positions as apprentices among the Athosians, a people who are very dear to me. They will serve a healer or a midwife; let who goes to which type of healer be determined by Ren and Jora’s own preferences and abilities. They will be responsible for learning all that their masters can teach them until such a time as they are both deemed healers in their own right.

“At that time, they will return to their true home with the Karthoran, where they will live and work together each day, saving lives and helping others to bring forth new life. Is that acceptable to you, Thorn Krovt?”

“Yes, yes. That is quite acceptable, Kysra,” the Thorn said, a hint of a smile crossing his lips, as if he had realized what Tony was trying to do.

“Wonderful.” Tony turned to John. “Colonel, would you be willing to send someone to help the girls pack up their things? I know we can’t stay here much longer this trip.”

John’s face was completely blank, and Tony knew he didn’t understand what zy had done at all.

“Sherman, Red Eagle. Go with them and get their stuff. Make it quick.”

Thankfully, the girls stopped crying and trying to kiss Tony’s hands once they had a task.

“Tony, Ronon, back in the jumper. You can chat another time,” John ordered.

Tony gratefully collapsed into the jumper’s back seat. Zy didn’t even mind when Ronon buckled zyr in and handed zyr a canteen of iced Athosian fruit tea.

Ronon was barely in his own seat when John, Rodney, and Teyla followed, and the hatch closed.

“We’re leaving the SR teams to finish up and bring the girls back,” John said tightly.

Tony sighed. “You’re pissed.”

“I don’t know what I am. I guess I’m—I’m thinking you better have a damned good explanation for handing down a life sentence for thoughtless, foolish words spoken at the wrong time, in the wrong place.”

“The Athosians won’t be mad, will they, Teyla? I’m hoping they’ll be willing to take on the girls.”

“On the contrary, Kysra Tony; they will be honored to do so.” Teyla smiled proudly. “You proclaimed the Athosians as a people very dear to you. That is a status no one will soon forget.”

“Well, I have no clue what just happened back there,” Rodney announced as the jumper lifted off and headed toward the gate. “Would somebody please explain it to me?”

Tony sighed heavily. “They were all getting ready to stone those girls. They had no idea if they’d actually done anything but say something stupid, but they were gathering like they were getting ready to watch a winning touchdown. I couldn’t let it happen, and I could tell I wasn’t going to be able to stop it without sucking it up and accepting that, whether or not I want to be, I am Kysra. I am the physical symbol of hope because the return of the Vedaeus is all these people have to put their hope in when faced with an unstoppable threat like the Wraith.”

“I got that,” John snapped. “Get to the part where you’re psychic.”

“I’m not. Not even a little bit,” Tony retorted. “I just spent most of the day yesterday talking with the girls. I learned a bunch of stuff they didn’t even realize they knew much less that they were telling me. It got me a profile of the person who had poisoned Ronon. I knew he’d be unstable enough that he’d respond if I essentially called him out, and he did.”

“What was with the girls, then? Why didn’t you just let them off the hook?” John demanded.

Tony sighed. “Because letting them off the hook wouldn’t really help them.”

“What? That makes no sense.” Rodney turned his chair so he could see Tony. “Stop talking in riddles!”

“Let me explain, okay?”

Ronon pushed the canteen of tea at zyr, so zy took another drink to make him happy.

“While I was talking with the girls, I figured out that they’re desperately in love with each other; however, the Karthorans are one of those societies where homosexuality is frowned on because they can’t reproduce without bringing in a third person, which isn’t accepted either. That’s why they made the joke about having Ronon get one or both of them pregnant. It was a kind of gallows humor because neither of them wants to marry the guys they’re betrothed to.”

“But how does sending them away to become healers fix any of that?”

“John, healers and midwives have a status above nearly any other in Pegasus,” Teyla interjected, and Tony was glad to let her explain. “If they are ‘forced’ to become apprentices to healers, it is a legitimate reason for their families to break the betrothals without causing offense. Becoming a healer takes several years. By the time the girls are finished with their apprenticeships, they will have the prestige they need to avoid marriage all together. Healers are often unmarried because their work consumes all their time.”

“I still don’t get how you knew they’d want to do that.”

“Because the only time either of them honestly got excited when I was talking to them was when they started telling me stories about which person had done what stupid thing, and which herb or plant they’d used to make a poultice, and how it all ended. I actually had Atlantis make sure that part was recorded and transcribed in case the botanists or medical research want to take a look at any of those plants. There was one that sounded a lot like aspirin.

“Ren has already attended three births, and she was so excited to learn I was pregnant that she completely forgot she was being held for possible execution because telling me every single thing she knew was more important to her.”

“So they’re already self-teaching themselves healing?” Rodney guessed.

“Yeah, exactly. And I sentenced them to go back and live and work together so they could be, well, _together_ without it being a shameful thing. When they go back home, they’ll be respected rather than going back now and being the girls who said the dumb thing that almost got the kysra’s husband killed.”

Ronon reached for Tony’s hand. He squeezed zyr fingers and smiled. “You did good, really good.”

“That mean you’re going to explain to Carter for me?” zy asked hopefully.

Ronon snorted. “Not a chance.”

Tony heaved a sigh. “Well, it was worth a shot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **16** Jattak (ʤu-TAK) type of red grain [Dakaroth M3C-041]  
>  **17** Rok (roak) edible mushroom [Dakaroth M3C-041]


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Noetherday, YangHui 25, First Year of the Returned  
(May 25, 2008)_

Tony mechanically dried off after zyr shower and slipped on zyr ultra-soft cotton sleep pants. A week ago, zy wouldn’t have bothered, since zy and Ronon had preferred sleeping skin-to-skin. Ever since what had happened on Dakaroth, zy and Ronon both had taken to sleeping in sleep pants or loose boxers.

At first, Tony had assumed it was for zyr benefit, but during a frank conversation a couple days ago, zy had learned that Ronon was the one who couldn’t sleep if either of them were naked. Tony had been surprised at first, but then zy had realized that as traumatic as the events on Dakaroth had been for zyr, at least zy had known what was going to happen before zy ever set foot on the planet. Ronon had been the one who’d had all his choices taken from him. He’d been drugged, his personal agency stolen first through violence, then through sex. That loss of control had him physically withdrawing and shying away from touch or striking out if he didn’t see it coming and have time to decide how he wanted to respond.

It infuriated Tony to no end that the Karthoran man had managed to steal from them the physical relationship that had been satisfying and comforting for both Tony and Ronon on so many levels. It had been through sex that Tony had learned to trust Ronon in the first place. That trust had led zyr to being open to learning how to be physically and emotionally intimate, even when the intimacy wasn’t sexual.

Tony hummed in thought and tossed zyr towel into the hamper. Maybe that was the answer.

Zy opened the little cabinet that Atlantis had made into a temperature-controlled unit for storing various body oils and got out the grapeseed oil zy had been using on zyr stomach. Then zy grabbed a clean towel and headed into the bedroom.

Ronon was already in bed with all the lights off except for the lamp on Tony’s bedside table. He was reading something on his tablet, and Tony thought there was a better than even chance it was either the baby book or another of the parenting books Xander had put on the server.

Ronon glanced up briefly before returning his gaze to the screen.

“Did you know the kyta can see light and hear sounds now?”

Yep, the baby book. Since that was a fantastic lead-in to what Tony wanted to do, zy refrained from sighing.

“Yeah, I’m at sixteen weeks now, so zy should just be starting to hear stuff. Don’t tell Rodney, or he’ll be making audio recordings of all his brilliant thoughts just to make sure the baby starts receiving mathematical instruction as soon as possible.”

Ronon acknowledge the truth of that with an amused grunt.

Tony crawled onto the bed, careful to not move too close, since Ronon wasn’t looking at zyr. “I ran into Doc Xander in the mess hall earlier today. He said that those weird little sensations I thought were gas bubbles might actually be the kyta moving.”

That got Ronon’s attention. He looked up and grinned. “Really? You can feel zyr?”

Tony found zyrself grinning stupidly back. Zy couldn’t help it, not when every time Ronon smiled at zyr like that. It made zyr heart feel light with the joy of loving such an amazing man.

“Probably. It’s hard to tell since it’s pretty faint. It’s more like a fluttering than movement.”

“Fluttering _is_ movement,” Ronon retorted.

His eyes dropped to the oil and towel Tony had on zyr lap. He stilled.

“So I had an idea, and no, it’s nothing sexy.” Zy flashed Ronon a smile, or zy tried to anyway. “I’ve started rubbing some grapeseed or jojoba oil into my stomach twice a day. I’m not convinced it’ll prevent stretch marks, but it’s awesome for dry skin, and it certainly can’t hurt.”

Ronon started to look more interested.

“I was thinking that maybe I could lie on the bed next to you while I did it this time, and if you felt like lending a hand or just talking to the kyta, you could do that. Neither of us are ready for sex yet, but there are other ways to be intimate, right?”

Ronon set aside the tablet and sat up quite eagerly, if Tony said so zyrself.

“When did you start this?”

Tony shrugged, standing so zy could help move the rest of the covers down past where their knees normally would be.

“A few days ago. I noticed that my skin started feeling dry and tight over the Bump, so I figured it was time.”

Zy spread out the towel and then lay down, extra pillows under zyr head and upper shoulders to prop zyr up more than normal. Zy casually pushed the sleep pants down below the Bump.

Ronon crossed his legs under him and scooted closer until Tony could feel the warmth of his skin against zyr side. He was so focused on watching Tony drizzle the oil over zyr belly and suck in a breath at how cool it felt on zyr shower-warmed skin that he might not have realized they were touching. Perfect.

“Are you…?”

Tony closed the cap and set the bottle at zyr hip, already starting to smooth the slick substance over zyr skin with the other hand.

“Am I what?”

“I think I’m not supposed to say it.”

Tony laughed, immediately knowing what Ronon was referring to.

“Oh, you mean am I bigger? Yes, I am. I’ll be gaining weight faster from now on—at least a pound or so a week. I’ve started adding those exercises from the book into my routine.”

“Which ones?”

“The ones under that heading, _Keep the Baby Weight on the Baby_. I’m gonna get fat; I accept that, and I’m okay with it because gaining weight now means having a healthy kyta. What I _don’t_ want is to keep the weight after the kyta is born.”

Tony spared a quick glance at Ronon and was pleased to find him smiling softly, almost reverently as he watched zyr rub in the oil.

“You’ll always be gorgeous, m’kysra,” he said softly.

“Hmm, to you, maybe.”

Ronon didn’t reply to that, though he did finally extend his hand over the Bump.

“This is okay?”

“Yep. Here, let me give you some oil first.” Tony flipped the cap on the bottle and poured a little into Ronon’s palm.

“Don’t let me hurt you.”

Tony’s heart broke a little. “You won’t, _caro_. You could never hurt me.”

Zy was perfectly aware that there was way more oil than necessary. In fact, Tony was going to be such a mess that zy’d need another shower before zy could go anywhere, but zy didn’t care. Ronon was actually touching zyr and enjoying it, if the way his neck and shoulders were relaxing was any indication. Their hands were moving all over zyr from quite a ways above the Bump to just beneath, slipping and sliding over each other without either one of them tensing.

“What should I say to zyr?”

“I don’t know. Zy’s stuck listening to me all the time right now. I think you could say anything, and zy’ll be happy to hear it.”

Ronon was silent for a while. When he did finally speak, the tops of his cheeks flushed lightly.

“Hi, kyta. I’m your papa.”

Ronon glanced up to Tony’s face, but zy very carefully kept zyr focus on the Bump. There was no way in hell zy was going to tease or embarrass Ronon, especially not when he had the most adorable combination of excited/shy/happy going on.

“Uh….”Ronon cleared his throat and started again. “Your dada picked me to be your papa, which makes us the luckiest papa and kyta in any galaxy. Your dada is so smart and brave. Zy’s strong and beautiful too, so I hope you’re just like zyr. I’ll always love you no matter what, but yeah. It would be awesome if you were like your dada. Zy’s kinda perfect, and I love zyr so much that sometimes when I look at zyr, I forget how to breathe.”

Tony blinked away the burning at the backs of zyr eyes and cursed the hormones that had zyr ready to cry at the drop of a hat. It had nothing to do with the sweet way Ronon was talking to the kyta. Nothing at all.

Tony purposely ran zyr hand over the top of Ronon’s, briefly lacing their fingers together before letting go.

Ronon met zyr eyes and smiled.

“I’m really excited to meet you, but for now you have to stay inside your dada so you can grow strong. The universe can be a tough place, so take your time. I’m not sure what else to say, except maybe it’s a good thing I’m your papa. I promise not to let your dada name you any of the stupid things it says on the insides of zyr clothes, like Zynga or Armani.”

Tony snickered but didn’t protest that those were perfectly reasonable names like zy did when zy was trying to rile up Ronon…or Rodney. Funny how they both objected to the same names.

“Not even Tommy, though I’m pretty sure that one started because that Hilfiger guy was so stupid he couldn’t remember his own name. His parents put it on his clothes, and then he got the idea _all_ his clothes were supposed to say his name. I have no idea why other people started wearing his clothes, though. Why would anybody want to wear clothes with somebody else’s name on them?” Ronon shook his head. “Earth is a weird, weird place, kyta.”

As Ronon started telling the kyta all about the weird things Earthers did, Tony smiled. Zy was ecstatic zyr idea was working out so well.

A long while later, after the excess oil had been cleaned up, and the towel and oil both returned to the bathroom, Tony settled in on zyr side in the big bed and closed zyr eyes. It had been a long day, and zy was certain the next wouldn’t be any better, not with the _Daedalus’_ arrival almost upon them.

The bed shifted, and Ronon carefully curved his larger frame around zyr.

“This okay?” he murmured.

“Yes, always.”

Ronon’s arm came around zyr, his hand automatically moving to cradle the Bump. He pressed a soft kiss to the back of Tony’s neck before slowly relaxing against zyr.

“Thank you, m’kysra.”

“Love you, _caro_.”

*~*~*~*

When John finally tracked down Rodney, he was sitting on the edge of one of the empty office buildings, drinking Athosian ale and watching the sun set. Numsuri, the moon that always appeared the largest from the planet’s surface, had already risen and was reflecting the last rays of the sun, creating a double-halo effect on the horizon.

John didn’t bother saying anything; he just sat down beside him, scooting forward until his legs could hang off the side of the building and swing much like a little kid’s legs at the edge of a too-tall chair. A sensation not unlike a net draped over his legs from hip to ankle. While John wasn’t afraid of heights, it was reassuring to know that Rodney probably had the same invisible security blanket holding him to the top of the building.

“Ready for the epic disaster about to destroy our way of life?”

John repressed the urge to roll his eyes. “So glad to know you’ve got your usual optimistic outlook on life.”

“Whatever.”

Rodney flipped open the lid on the small cooler next to him and took out another bottle. He popped the cork and handed it to John.

“Thanks,” John said, more than a little surprised.

Rodney grunted but refused to look at him.

They sat in silence long enough that John was considering finishing his ale and going to his quarters to watch a movie. Despite what Zelenka had said, Rodney didn’t seem all that worked up about the arrival of the _Daedalus_ the next day. He was quiet, but that wasn’t always a bad thing. There was more to him than IQ and acerbic commentary. Besides. It wasn’t as if John was overly eager to make anyone talk about their feelings. That was more Teyla’s area than it was his.

“She cut me off.”

“Huh?”

Rodney finally looked at him and rolled his eyes.

“Atlantis. She cut me off. Apparently, I’m only allowed to make a certain number of people cry per day, and I exceeded my maximum.”

“So she cut you off…from the physics lab?”

“From everything!” Rodney snapped, looking back out to the horizon once more. “She’s keeping watch and promised to let me know if there was an emergency, but she cut off my access until 0600 tomorrow.”

“Ah. I see.”

Well, that would certainly explain why Zelenka was worried and why there had been reports of Rodney storming out of various labs, fit to be tied. That didn’t mean John knew what to say about it.

Rodney snorted. “I feel like I’m five again and getting grounded _out_ of my room.” He drained the last of his ale. “At least I don’t have to spend time with my family. That really would be unnecessary punishment.”

“Cruel and unusual,” John agreed, thinking about Rodney’s complicated relationship with his sister. After a pause, he asked, “So are you really that worried about tomorrow?”

That earned him the most scathing glare he’d gotten in a long time.

“You _aren’t?_ ” Rodney demanded. “You can’t tell me you think this is going to be anything other than a complete disaster once they get here. Even I’ve heard people talking about it and wondering if they should just pack up their stuff now. I think we’ll be lucky if Atlantis doesn’t have to follow through on her not-threat to sink the city again, just so she can get rid of all the assholes they’re going to send. Not counting Daniel Jackass.”

“I’m concerned about it, Rodney. That doesn’t mean I think we’re going to end up dead at the bottom of Sateda’s ocean.”

He personally thought if Atlantis lost patience, she would be more likely to beam them onto the _Daedalus_ and tell them not to come back without a hundred kysra as a peace offering.

“Maybe not right away,” Rodney conceded, “but once they have a couple of ZedPMs, there’s no way they’re going to pretend they respect Atlantis. I doubt they’ll be able to get through a single day without insulting Tony enough that Ronon loses his temper. Sure, cave-Dex is a lot more laid back now that he’s getting laid on a daily basis—which I’m bitterly jealous of and don’t have a problem admitting—but he’s never going to put up with the kind of trash talk that the new people are going to bring with them, military and otherwise. I think we’ll be lucky if Teyla doesn’t break her favorite bantos sticks over some idiot’s skull, which will just make her that much madder because Tony’s the one who gave her those bantos sticks.

“Mark my words, Sheppard: this is going to be an epic shitshow.”

John snorted, amused. There was no way that expression had come from anyone but Tony Dex. Rodney didn’t spend enough time with any of the military to have gotten it from them.

“Okay, I’ll give you the fact that Ronon’s going to lose his temper at some point, but I don’t think everything else will be as dark as you seem to think it will be.”

John didn’t bother commenting on Daniel Jackson. Rodney had a hate-on for the other man that he didn’t understand and wasn’t willing to touch with a ten-foot pole. He also didn’t comment on his own status, since he already knew he was going to be recalled to Earth. Rodney was upset enough.

“They’re not going to send someone who can’t negotiate and at least fake respect for kysra, and I think that after they’ve been here a while, they’ll forget to fake the respect, especially when they see the good that Tony’s already done for this place.”

Rodney stared at him incredulously. “Are you drunk off _one_ ale? That’s the only reason I can see for that kind of irrationally cheerful attitude.”

“Carter doesn’t seem all that worried about it.”

“Right. That’s why she called that meeting for tomorrow morning to go over our progress with the Pegasus natives for the ten thousandth time.”

John gently knocked his shoulder against Rodney’s. “I think the anticipation is worse than the reality will be.”

“It’s so cute when you lie to yourself like that. I’m right, but you’re only going to admit it when we’re drowning a thousand leagues under the ocean.”

“And when I’m right,” John countered, “you have to watch the new football games they’re bringing.”

Rodney stared at him, then grimly held out a hand.

Never one to back down, John shook on their bet but sent up a silent prayer to anyone who was listening.

*~*~*~*

_Serreday, YangHui 26, First Year of the Returned  
(May 26, 2008)_

John usually enjoyed people watching, but he was feeling way too nervous to really get into it, even though there were at least twice as many people as normal in Ops and the Gateroom. He was too anxious to even harass Chuck about football versus hockey, something that was kind of like poking a cat until it hissed…or so he assumed. He’d never actually poke a cat just in case McKay heard about it.

At least he was doing better than Rodney. The scientist was terrified and had half the room in tears, and the other half was furious with him. John was beginning to see why Atlantis had banned him from the labs the night before. He wished he could do something to reassure Rodney, but all his attempts had failed and only made him yell at people in a more strident, higher-pitched voice. John was going to resort to making jokes about being glad he wouldn’t have to buy his hair gel on the black market anymore just to get Rodney to redirect his rants to a safer target.

Even Carter wasn’t immune to the excitement and anxiety filling the entire city. She was also feeling possessive, if the way Starsong kept rubbing her face and neck all over the Stargate and rumbling was any indication. John thought he was the only one who’d picked up on how much of a mirror the tanricu was for Carter’s feelings, and he wasn’t about to enlighten anyone else. The Vedaeus knew if Rodney got wind of it, he’d annoy Carter about it until she got fed up and let Starsong eat him. Then all hell would break loose because Tony would be thoroughly distraught, then Atlantis would get involved, and they really would be recreating a live-action version of 20,000 leagues under the sea without the benefit of a submarine.

No, it was better if John kept his mouth shut. It seemed that was the case a lot of the time.

John wandered back over to the station where Rodney was sitting and keeping a close eye on the _Daedalus_.

“I wish Tony were here.”

John raised one eyebrow at the quietly muttered statement.

“No, it’s better that zy and Ronon are safe in Dex tower. I don’t trust Earth people not to do something stupid.”

John’s other eyebrow shot up beside the first. That sounded more like a reply than an observation, but who was Rodney talking to? Teyla, who was standing on Rodney’s other side, shot him a questioning glance, but he could only shrug.

“Carter! They’re within range.”

John met Carter’s eyes across the ops station and gave her a tiny smile and nod of encouragement.

“Get me a channel to them.” Once Chuck indicated it was ready, Carter activated her comm and said, “ _Daedalus,_ this is Atlantis. Please come in.”

She smiled widely at whatever the response was.

“Good to hear your voice, Colonel Caldwell. I’m not surprised to hear that he’s anxious to get down here.” Turning to Rodney without deactivating her comm, she said, “Dr. McKay, please allow the _Daedalus_ to beam Daniel, Woolsey, and a few others into the city.”

Rodney’s hands froze on the station. He started to speak, but Atlantis herself appeared.

John very carefully did not wince when he saw she was back in one of her intimidation outfits, huge black-and-red crown thing included.

“Colonel, I shall make an opening into the Gateroom myself. That should suffice.”

Carter’s smile became slightly strained.

“Daedalus, Atlantis has made an opening in the shield so you can beam into the Gateroom.” Carter’s eyes went wide, and she looked toward where Starsong was sharpening one of her horns on the gate. “Please be advised that there is a large…creature in the Gateroom, but she is not a danger. I’d appreciate it if you’d inform your people to refrain from shooting at her.”

John winced. Yeah, somebody opening fire on Starsong would be all they’d need. The only thing worse to the Pegasus natives would be someone opening fire on Tony. Shit, just the thought of anybody doing _that_ made John wish for some Tums, his bed, and a cool cloth for his forehead.

John joined Carter and made his way down the steps, Rodney and Teyla following closely behind. The Asgard beam was already depositing several figures. John immediately recognized Jackson and Woolsey, and he had to assume the very young Asian woman with Woolsey was Roe Yi-Jae, but he didn’t recognize the military personnel—the well-armed military personnel with them at all.

Before anyone could say anything, Atlantis was suddenly standing in front of Daniel Jackson, rage radiating from her in nearly physical waves.

“Alteran!” she snarled, dragging out the word into far more syllables than John thought it should have.

A strange cylinder of light encased Jackson and began to separate the shocked scientist from the other humans.

“Atlantis! What are you doing?!”

The military personnel had their weapons up and aimed at Atlantis, for all the good it would do. Woolsey looked like he was about to wet his pants, his tiny companion clinging to his arm and hiding her face in his shoulder. The military personnel seemed to be hesitant to shoot, but they were working their way toward it. Even Teyla looked concerned.

Of course, Rodney was the only one who wasn’t upset. On the contrary, he looked like all his Christmases had come early.

John made his way to Atlantis’ side, doing his damnedest not to flinch back from her seething fury.

“Atlantis,” he said casually, striving for the tone he’d used that time she’d scared the shit out of all of them by opening the gate over and over. “What’cha doin’?”

She raised one arm to point her finger at Jackson.

“That one,” she growled, “That one bears the stench of the Alterans. I will not have it! I will not have an Alteran within my structure!”

It was about that point that Starsong picked up on Carter’s distress and rushed to her human’s side. She opened her mouth and roared loudly enough that John wondered if his bones were actually going to break under the sonic attack. She then set about trying to not-so-subtly separate Carter from the threat, otherwise known as all the new people. With Carter occupied trying to disagree with Starsong’s assessment, it was left to John to try to defuse the situation.

Oh, goody.

“Now, wait a minute before you do something drastic, please. There might be a perfectly good explanation why Dr. Jackson doesn’t smell Irish-spring fresh to you.” John turned to Jackson, praying that was the truth. “Dr. Jackson? Would you care to reassure Atlantis you’re not an Alteran?”

Jackson put his palm out to touch the cylinder surrounding him, only to yank it back when he was given an electric shock.

“Uh, no. Definitely not an Alteran,” he said, still shaking out his hand. “I’m human—100% human. Quite, uh, just quite human.”

Having successfully separated Jackson from anyone else, Atlantis began to prowl around him.

John hoped Jackson had more than shocked babble in his hat, or he was going to be seeing the wonders of space up close and personal.

“Okay, that’s a good start, but let’s put a little more thought into it. Was there possibly a time when you were off-planet that you ran into an Alteran? Was there a way you brushed shoulders and accidentally got their eau de Alteran on you?”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” Rodney shouted. “Atlantis, he was ascended. He’s done it a couple of times because people keep killing him, which I understand the urge but I think it’s a little much. The ascended keep kicking him out. Now as much as I would enjoy seeing you make him cry, he really is just a human. He barely qualifies as a scientist, and he’s far too much of a bleeding-heart to ever join up with those worthless pieces of aknata excrement.”

Atlantis stopped once she faced Jackson again. “Is that true? You ascended but were rejected from their ranks?”

“Well, I assume that’s what happened. Jack—General O’Neill—told me I tried to help him, so we think I tried to help somebody else, and that got me rejected, as you say.”

Atlantis pressed her index finger to her lips, her eyes narrowing as she studied Jackson. She hummed and circled him again.

John was feeling hopeful until Jackson had a sudden, horrible, impulse to be honest.

“I know I was friends with Oma Desala, if that makes a difference. She was the one who taught me how to ascend.”

Rodney clapped a hand to his forehead, and John had the urge to do the same.

Surprisingly, Atlantis said, “I recall Oma Desala. She was not entirely useless or evil.”

Talk about being damned with faint praise.

“Very well,” she decided. “You may remain for now. If you harm anyone—human or otherwise—with malice aforethought, I shall make you regret your entire existence.”

The column disappeared, much to John’s relief.

“Thank you for allowing me to stay, Atlantis,” Daniel said with a half-bow. “I’m sorry I offended you. Had I known there was something that you’d be able to sense, I certainly wouldn’t have come here without your prior knowledge and approval.”

Well, maybe Jackson didn’t suck so much at talking himself out of trouble after all.

“I accept your apology, Dr. Jackson. I will take you at your word, as I have already accepted you and Mr. Woolsey of the IOA as Earth’s negotiators. I hope our time together will be fruitful.”

Daniel seemed to settle into himself. He smiled at Atlantis and replied, “Thank you. I too hope our time together will be fruitful. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be here, to speak with someone who has lived so long and knows so much. It’s a bit of a dream come true for an archeologist like myself.”

Rodney muttered, “Kiss ass,” then grunted when Teyla elbowed him.

About that time, Carter won her own disagreement and returned to stand beside John. She was a little disheveled but unharmed. Starsong planted herself next to Carter and made a grumpy, huffing sound, a small stream of smoke escaping her nostrils.

“Hi, Sam.” Daniel smiled uncertainly and gave her a weak wave of one hand. “So you’ve got a—um—an interesting friend. That’s new.”

“This is Starsong. She’s a tanricu from one of our allies’ home worlds.” Carter smiled brightly.

It started John to realize that he now knew her well enough to know it was fake. From the way Jackson was looking at her, he could tell too.

Woolsey was eyeing the tanricu like he was hoping the Marines would open fire but was afraid it wouldn’t be enough. His tiny companion peaked around his arm. When the tanricu looked directly at her, she smiled shyly.

“She’s incredibly beautiful, if on the…overwhelming side,” Daniel gushed. “You know, I’ve always wondered why we haven’t encountered more reptilian species on the planets we’ve gone to. It’s amazing that there really is such a thing as a wyvern, I mean tanricu. You have to wonder about the—”

“Dr. Jackson,” Woolsey interrupted.

Funny how he was suddenly able to talk now that the danger had passed.

Jackson stopped, but he pursed his lips and sent Woolsey an annoyed glare.

It seemed like Woolsey was going to say something else, but Atlantis derailed him by stepping up to the young woman behind him and smiling gently…. Well, as gently as Atlantis could when she was being all pants-shittingly terrifying.

“Hello, Kysra. _You_ are very welcome within my structure. It is my hope you will be happy here and wish to remain.”

The young wom—er—kysra looked from Atlantis to Woolsey and back, wide-eyed and silent.

“Forgive me,” Carter interjected. “I haven’t made the proper introductions. Atlantis, this is Mr. Richard Woolsey, the representative from the IOA. Unless I’m mistaken, I believe this is his life companion, Roe Yi-Jae. Do you still go by Jae?”

Jae looked to Woolsey, who nodded his permission.

“Yes, ma’am.”John stared blankly at the two. He knew Woolsey had to be between 45 and 50. In zyr conservative black dress with its little white collar, Jae didn’t look like zy was out of zyr teens. Life companion meant they’d been together long enough that he’d done the delt equivalent of marrying zyr at some point, which meant that Woolsey was definitely sleeping with zyr.

John did the math and then wished he hadn’t. He wanted to be sick. He was pretty sure the only reason Woolsey was still alive was that Teyla didn’t know the implications of the term life companion, and as soon as Tony found out, zy was going to have a colossal fit, not that John would blame zyr.

“Last but not least, this is my dear friend and former teammate, Dr. Daniel Jackson. Everyone, this is Atlantis. I’m sure you’ve all been dying to meet her. I think you know Colonel John Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay, but this is Teyla Emmagan. Teyla is Athosian, and I’m sure you’ll recall from my reports how invaluable she has been to us.”

Atlantis ignored Woolsey, Jackson, and the protection detail. She extended her hand, palm up, to Jae.

“It would please me greatly if you would come with me. I wish to show you your true origin and your true heritage.”

Jae again looked to Woolsey. He frowned and studied Atlantis silently.

“I know we haven’t made the best impression on you, Ms. Atlantis. I would like your word that if Jae goes with you, she will come to no harm while she is in your care.”

Atlantis frowned right back at him. “ _Zy_ will never come to any harm so long as it is within my power to prevent it, Mr. Woolsey. Jae is only the second kysra to return to Pegasus, and zy will be cherished by all within my structure.”

John definitely heard an undertone of, _Or I will know why, and then I will give them cause to regret their own birth._

Woolsey pried Jae’s fingers from his upper arm and pushed her toward Atlantis, ignoring zyr fearful glance back at him.

“Go with her. I expect you to learn everything she has to teach you.”

Teyla made an indignant sound, but Rodney whispered something to her that silenced her.

“Well,” Carter smiled with that same false enthusiasm. “Shall we meet upstairs? We should make sure we’re on the same page before Atlantis is ready to begin negotiations. I’d also like to start the unloading process for the supplies the _Daedalus_ has brought us.”

John observed Woolsey’s cool, suspicious stare, Jackson’s wariness, and the outright hostility and fear from their protection detail. He wondered if he’d be telling Rodney he was right after all.

*~*~*~*

_Chernday, YangHui 28, First Year of the Returned  
(May 28, 2008)_

Atlantis’ presence in Rodney’s mind abruptly flared and went from partially annoyed yet hopeful to triumphant. She startled him into nearly losing his balance, and he had to stop typing to catch himself on the edge of the worktable.

Closing his eyes, he shook his head to clear it. When that didn’t work, he pressed his thumb and forefinger against his closed lids and focused on sending her a non-verbal ‘ouch!’ He didn’t know if their link worked like that, but he was going to try.

“Rodney? Are you alright?”

“Yes, fine,” Rodney snapped back at Zelenka. He sighed and dropped his hand to his lap. “Sorry, Radek. Yes, I’m fine.”

Zelenka took a few seconds to respond. “And now I am thinking I should call Doc Xander. If you are apologizing, you almost certainly are on death’s doorstep.”

Rodney opened his eyes only to narrow them in a glare. “See if I ever apologize to you again.”

On the other side of Rodney’s laboratory worktable, Radek raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. “It was a joke. Don’t be so touchy. Now, tell me what is the problem.”

“Muscle spasm.”

Rodney rolled his shoulders and made a point to rotate his head to stretch his neck. He had been working most of the day on a device that he absolutely refused to call the grab-n-go no matter what Radek and the others wanted.

“Uh-huh,” Zelenka replied, his tone skeptical. He removed his glasses so he could rub his eyes, so Rodney thought Zelenka believed it enough that he’d drop it. “Then you have solved the problem you were having with the device?”

Rodney huffed. “Not yet, but I will. No doubt I would have a breakthrough if you’d stop distracting me.”

“Me distracting you?!” Radek fired back, jamming his glasses back on his face. His atypical, immediate frustration made Rodney think he wasn’t the only one struggling with a project. “I am not the one who nearly fell off his chair due to a ‘muscle spasm.’ I was being very productive until you realized you’ve been stuck for hours now—”

“I have not!”

“—yet you will not ask _her_ for help.”

“Atlantis is busy. Besides, it’ll come to me.”

Frustrated, Zelenka slapped his laptop shut and stomped around to Rodney’s side of the table.

“Rodney, no one will think less of you for working with her. Most are concerned about what it means that you call her, and she always appears. Worse yet, many of us have heard her speak to you affectionately, even calling you pet names. It is quite terrifying.”

Rodney perked up. “Really?”

He definitely liked the idea that people had heard Atlantis being affectionate toward him. He hadn’t realized it would make people fear him. It was an unexpected bonus that _might_ prevent them from doing anything so stupid that he’d have to race to fix before it killed them all.

“ _Yes_ ,” Radek fumed. He tore off his glasses again and started cleaning the lenses on his shirt. “It does not make you lose any of your—I believe ‘street cred’ is the way to say it—to ask her for help.” He slid his glasses back on and grumbled, “Not that you had any to begin with.”

Back to being annoyed, Rodney protested, “I do so! I bet I’d have solved this earlier, but I haven’t had enough caffeine today. Hey! Somebody get me a coffee!” he shouted to the otherwise empty lab.

Atlantis appeared, coffees in each hand, before either of them could say anything more.

Zelenka choked on his next words, backing away from the city’s humanoid form.

Rodney yelped and clutched at his chest. “ _Atlantis_! You can’t do that! You just gave me a heart attack!”

She stared at him intently, which he assumed meant she was scanning him, after which she smirked. “You asked for coffee, did you not?”

Rodney glared. “You did that on purpose!”

She laughed lightly. “I may have heard my name and been drawn to listen to your argument.”

Zelenka gaped. He shut his jaw with an audible snap and pointed to the door. “I—perhaps—yes, I think I should go now,” he said, backing toward it.

Rodney rolled his eyes. He really didn’t understand Radek’s irrational fear of offending Atlantis. She’d never harmed any of them except Keller, and that murdering psycho had definitely had it coming. She wasn’t even in one of her intimidating outfits, just the dark purple, flowing dress thing with a bunch of her crystal necklaces.

“Please stay, Radek,” Atlantis requested, dropping her teasing tone. She handed a coffee to Rodney, then padded toward the other scientist, her feet bare and silent on the floor as usual. Rodney would get around to asking her why she never had shoes someday. “I brought you coffee also. I wish to speak with you and Rodney both.”

Unable to resist good coffee any more than Rodney was, Zelenka allowed himself to be coaxed back into the room. Rodney made a moaning sound when he took a sip of his to drive the point home. Atlantis must’ve gotten it from Tony’s stash, because this wasn’t the bitter crap the military bought.

“Is there something I can do for you, Great Lady?”

“No,” Atlantis declined the offer with a gentle smile. “I wished to inform you and Rodney of something that was finalized during negotiations today.”

“I see,” Zelenka said. “Wait a moment. Aren’t you still negotiating?”

“Indeed I am,” she replied, making Rodney’s brow furrow in puzzlement.

Seeing their confusion, Atlantis explained, “I am able to manifest more than one humanoid form at a time now. I am unsure how many I will be able to manifest eventually, but two is not taxing in the least. Thus, I am negotiating with Woolsey and Jackson while I am speaking with you.”

Rodney could accept that. It made sense that she could do more now that she had all her ZedPMs.

“Oh, okay. You look smug. What did you do?” She also felt proudly satisfied in his mind, but he couldn’t exactly say that in front of Radek.

“I am quite pleased, yes. I succeeded in convincing the two Earther negotiators to do something I wished them to do, and they believe it to be their idea.”

//I will show you the conversation later if you wish,// she told Rodney silently. //It was quite entertaining.//

Rodney snorted. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. I assume it has something to do with us, since you wanted to talk to us?”

“In a roundabout way, yes. I have permitted them to convince me that it would be beneficial if I created a certain number of long-term positions for the Earthers within my structure.”

“What? How?!” Rodney demanded. “And _why_? Why would they agree to that?”

Radek’s jaw had dropped, and his eyes were very wide and very blue behind his thick lenses, yet he remained silent.

She chuckled in amusement at their shock. “I indicated that because I am many thousands of years old, I do not perceive time the same way humans do. Unlike humans who live not even a full century, I do not form attachments to those who are only with me for a handful of years. I implied that by adding and removing people as rapidly as Earth tends to do, I had come to the conclusion that the people they send are ones they believe are disposable. Of course if that is the case, then it means that if I am attacked or need to sink my structure, I would not need to bother protecting the Earther humans like I would Tony and Ronon or even the Athosians, who have begun or brought their families and intend to be with me permanently.”

Rodney made a rude noise. “I can’t believe they believed something so ridiculous! I thought Jackson was supposed to be this perfect judge of character who could do no wrong. How did you get them to agree? Are they just civilian positions, or are there ones for military personnel too? What about my position; is it permanent?”

//Dearest, I am very different with them than I am with you. I will explain all in due time.//

Out loud, she said, “I allowed them to ‘prevent’ me from choosing the humans I wish to keep by title or rank. Instead, there will be a set number of placements based on population and what I termed ‘usefulness.’ For instance, I wish to have experts in horticulture, agriculture, and aquaculture, but I have little need for yet another marine biologist who wishes to sit on the bottom of the ocean for days at a time so he may observe aquatic life forms in their natural habitat.”

Rodney snorted. He understood Atlantis was a city in an ocean, which appealed to those who studied oceanic phenomena and life forms, but the way Earth was sending them in droves was ridiculous.

“Earthers—or others from the Milky Way galaxy, I did not limit the wording solely to Earth—must indicate their willingness to be considered for long-term placement through an application. Mr. Woolsey was very clear that I may _only_ choose from those who apply,” Atlantis explained.

“We are calling them long-term placements or long-term residencies because Earth’s negotiators believe all humans will wish to leave sooner or later, and I have agreed that people must be allowed to terminate their contracts if they so desire. However, as long as I have at least one long-term resident, one who is not also a kysra, then I will protect all those the Milky Way sends to me, even if I do not feel attachment to them.”

Rodney shook his head, studying Atlantis’ feral, triumphant grin. He was hardly able to believe that Jackson and Woolsey hadn’t seen through Atlantis’ bluff. Even when he thought she was intimidating, Rodney didn’t really believe she’d hurt them. Well, not unless they did something to harm or endanger Tony.

Radek spoke up, “How can that work with the militaries? There are different rules for various nations, branches, and enlisted versus officers.”

“Jackson made that very point, Radek. He explained that scientists also have contracts for set amounts of time that they must renegotiate periodically,” Atlantis said. “I told them that such agreements among Earthers are of no consequence to me so long as they do not require my long-term residents to be moved to another location. The humans who contract for a residency will do so directly with me. They must also apply directly to me for a specific period of leave if they wish to be gone from my structure for reasons other than missions to Pegasus planets. It is only during scheduled leave that they will be permitted to go to Earth or any other planet within the Milky Way, unless they wish to forsake their residency and leave me permanently.”

“Err, Atlantis? I don’t think they explained that militaries don’t work like that. Militaries send their personnel wherever they please, whenever they please.”

“I am aware of that, dear one.” She casually picked up a ‘dead’ green crystal from the work station and somehow charged it before handing it to an astonished Radek.

Rodney very nearly demanded Radek hand over the crystal so he could study it. He hadn’t known Atlantis could do that!

“However, it seems the IOA and SGC have granted Woolsey and Jackson full power to accept or reject offers, so all Earth’s nations will be bound by our agreement. We decided that any humans who are sent to my structure would require a clause in their contracts with the IOA and SGC that states they may apply for and receive residency at any time. If it is granted, then they cannot be required to return to Earth or any other location in order to fulfill their duties. It is only if they choose to relinquish their resident status—or I terminate their status for some reason—that they can be relocated.

“The clause is retroactive to apply to all those here currently,” Atlantis added, “though I agreed to discuss applicants with the leaders of both the military and civilian organizations within my structure to gain their opinions and advice, of course.”

Rodney _and_ John could apply. That was all Rodney could think when he realized that the agreement wasn’t limited to new personnel. Rodney knew he and John would never be together like he’d wished before he'd found out John was sarex, but his heart still did a stupid flip in his chest. It was probably just the coffee.

“Ah, and are you obligated to follow their advice?” Radek asked hesitantly.

“No. I was quite adamant that I not be forced to accept anyone I do not want.” Atlantis’ lips twitched. “I was so adamant about that point, I don’t think it occurred to them that I might contract with someone Earth does not wish to allow me to keep.”

Rodney yanked his head away from the hope that he and John would always be close, even if they were never lovers. “What about families? I mean, I don’t care if I only see Jeannie once per decade, but other people will care.”

“Ah, yes. I went on for quite some time about the differences I noted in morale and general disposition between the Athosians and the Earthers within my structure. I concluded that while there were a number of variables, having daily access to kinship groups or families was the largest difference between the two sets of humans.

“Therefore, when humans apply for a residency, they must also list any family they might wish to have with them, and what specializations or skills those members would bring to us so that I may consider them at the same time. There will be a letter they must to send to those individuals to determine if they wish to join the applicant, even though they can’t be told where they will be going. If I approve the applicant, then any family who state they wish to join him or her will be approved at the same time. The SGC will be required to send the family to me within one Satedan week of being notified of my decision.”

Rodney nearly choked on his coffee. “How in the world did you get that pushed through? Earth doesn’t have the power to open a wormhole to Pegasus frequently, and the Midway station won’t have room for a bunch of families!”

“Now you come to the heart of the agreement,” Atlantis said with a smile. “I agreed to give Earth the partially full ZedPM so that they have the energy to open their gate whenever it is necessary.”

Radek sat down on his stool abruptly and rubbed his hand over his mouth, following with several unusually quiet phrases in Czech.

“How—” He cleared his throat. “How would one interested in such a thing go about applying for this long-term residency?”

“That is why I am here, Radek. I promised I would consider all applications and limit my selections to only those who apply. Nothing in the negotiated agreement prevents me from asking my favorites to apply and guaranteeing them a position if they do.”

“Yes! I’m applying! See? This is me applying!” Rodney was beaming at her; he knew he was. It wasn’t just a smile, a smirk, or a grin. He was outright beaming. He couldn’t stop, and he didn’t care. “Where do I sign? Do you want a thumbprint, retinal scan, blood sample?”

She laughed delightedly. “I have loaded the application to your computers and completed most of it for you. You must fill in the section about what family you might wish to have brought here and customize the basic letter to a certain extent. Then sign your name and add your thumbprint. I will take care of the rest.”

Rodney darted back to his computer so fast he was surprised he didn’t sprain something.

“Be aware that if you sign a contract for a residency, you will be mine. My structure will be your home, and you will not be able to leave without my authorization, and then only for a specific time period. If you do not return to me and have not contacted me to request an extension, I will find you wherever you are and reacquire you myself.”

“I heard you the first time about being granted leave,” Rodney said, waving her off. “I’m sure you meant that part as a warning, but frankly? I find it reassuring to know Earth wouldn’t be allowed to stick me in a cell and tell you I changed my mind.”

//They could _try_ ,// she growled into his mind. //I am working on identifier technology that will allow me to track you wherever anyone might try to hide you.//

Radek was slower to open his computer and read through the document. “When you say family, do you mean only spouses and children?”

Atlantis moved forward to touch Radek’s forearm where it rested on the table. “Radek, Rodney and Tony did not meet until Tony arrived here a few months ago, yet they are brother and ayah now. I trust that you will choose people who are your family despite their legal relationship to you, or the lack of the same.”

Radek warily looked up from the screen. “And must I and any family be changed like Rodney was? I must become Satedan, _ano_?”18

 _“What?!”_ Rodney squawked.

Atlantis chuckled, giving Rodney a fond smile. “I told you he would realize but say nothing, did I not?”

Rodney grunted something that might have been a yes. He’d been so careful! How had Zelenka figured it out?

“I will likely offer the opportunity to approved applicants and their families, but I will _not_ require anyone be changed. On the contrary, I think I will stipulate even those who immediately say they wish to be changed take a certain amount of time to think about it,” Atlantis said after some consideration. “I asked Rodney to allow me to change him before Tony and Ronon married. It took him many weeks to agree.”

“I wanted to be sure!” Rodney protested, thinking she was criticizing him.

He received a rush of pure love from her as she looked up and said, “Yes, and I believe that is part of why you have adapted so quickly and so well. I do not believe that would have been the case if I had compelled you to be changed while you were still unsure.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled happily. “I’m putting down my sister, her kids, and even her stupid husband just in case something happens and they need to leave Earth. Unless there’s a threat worse than the Wraith, Jeannie won’t want to come, and I don’t really want her here.”

He loved her, but he could only take so much of her relentless disparagement. They got along much better when she was on Earth and he was in Pegasus…and they didn’t speak.

Atlantis hmm’d and padded to his side of the work bench. “I had not considered that. Perhaps there should be two sections: one for people you wish to invite, and the second for people who are guaranteed an emergency placement if tragedy should strike Earth.”

As she spoke, Rodney watched the document split to form those exact sections, with Jeannie and her family listed under in the ‘lifeboat’ one.

He raised an eyebrow and looked up at her. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

Her lips twitched, and as close as they were, he could see the multiplication of the supernovas that indicated she was laughing at him, but not in a cruel way.

“My structure is a ship, is it not?” Atlantis shrugged elegantly. “Why should it not be a lifeboat for those who are chosen by my people?”

Rodney could only huff and turn back to his application to add his signature and thumbprint. He just knew Sheppard was influencing Atlantis for the worse. She’d never started with the puns until one day when John had explained why he thought they were funny.

Jeannie already knew about the city, so he’d just email her to let her know she and her family had a spot if they ever needed to leave Earth rather than using the form letter.

 “Excellent,” Atlantis said. “Now you shall tell me what difficulty you have run into with your new device, and I will assist you unless you truly do not wish me to.”

Radek shot him a self-satisfied look from the other side of the table.

“Oh, put a sock in it, Zelenka!” Rodney ordered. “I could’ve done it myself! But…yeah, okay. So it’s like this….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **18** Ano: Yes [Earth Czech language]


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_Keplerday, YangHui 29, First Year of the Returned  
(May 29, 2008)_

(Some dialogue ~~stolen~~ borrowed from SGA Season 4, Episode 17. No copyright infringement intended.)

The _Daedalus_ was docked on the East Pier, and there were dozens of new people in the city.

Ronon was _not_ happy about it.

In fact, one of those new guys was working with Tony at that very moment so that he could replace zyr. Ronon knew his meraska was unhappy about losing zyr job and worried that the new guy wouldn’t care about justice like zy did. That made Ronon down right pissed off. Tony should never have to be unhappy about anything.

Tony had made him promise to wait and see what the new guy did. What Ronon didn’t tell zyr was that if the new guy didn’t do the job right, Ronon knew where the scientists sailed out and chummed the waters to bring around those really big fish with individual teeth the size of Ronon’s hand.

That one biologist guy who’d been burned earlier in the year practically worshiped Tony after zy had gotten Atlantis to completely heal his skin so he could go diving again. Then Tony had gotten Atlantis to start working on a pod thing for deep sea exploration. It wasn’t done yet, but the burned guy had recently told Tony that he thought it wouldn’t be much longer before he could start testing it. Ronon knew without a doubt that _that_ guy would be thrilled to do Ronon a favor if it meant making Tony’s life better.

Ronon was further annoyed because that Teal’c guy Carter was so excited about was supposed to come through McKay’s gate bridge that morning. That wouldn’t have bothered Ronon at all, except Teal’c was supposed to teach him about how to make nice with the IOA people on Earth. Ronon didn’t give a crap about the IOA, other than the control they exerted over the people on the city. He would’ve flatly refused to go, but Tony’s Earth friend, Jimmy, was supposed to be graduating about the same time. Tony was excited about seeing him, which meant Ronon was going to suck it up and go with zyr.

Ronon was supposed to be up by the gate to meet Teal’c any time now, which led to the final thing that was irritating him.

He’d been out on his morning run when he’d almost literally run into a new guy being an ass to one of the guys who’d been on the city since before Ronon had gotten there. It wasn’t anything Ronon would have to report to Wolfe until after he was done. The new guy had just been trying to intimidate the other guy into being some kind of beast of burden and hauling his shit around for him.

Well, Ronon wasn’t going to put up with that, especially since he could vaguely remember the one guy talking with Tony at some point. Tony had been smiling, which probably meant the guy was okay.

So Ronon had grabbed the new guy by the back of the neck and dragged him to one of the many gyms around the city for a little IST time. A lot of the people he’d passed on the way had openly laughed. They’d known exactly what was going on without him having to say a thing. They even attracted a couple of followers who wanted to come watch the show.

Ronon put the guy down for the millionth time and sighed. He was thoroughly disappointed by the lack of challenge, which meant he’d missed part of his run, and he still had to figure out where he was going to get a decent workout. Great. Yet another thing to fit in his schedule for the day.

 _Earthers are a lot of damn work,_ Ronon thought, not for the first time.

“That’s him. Come on.”

Ronon put the guy down for a final time and turned to see Carter, a very Earther-looking guy, and a new guy who didn’t look like an Earther at all. He was big, though not as big as Ronon, and he had his hair in awesome tiny braids that made Ronon like him better than 95% of the people he met on principle. He also had a symbol carved into his forehead in gold. Ronon had to respect somebody who could take that kind of pain, though he wondered why anyone would do such a thing.

“Ronon Dex,” Carter started, smiling in that same happy way she did when she was talking about her old team. She gestured to the guy. “I’d like you to meet Teal’c of the Jaffa. He’s the one I was telling you about.”

Teal’c did an odd mini-bow thing and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you, RononDex.”

“And this is Dr. Daniel Jackson.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Jackson smiled and started to offer a hand, but pulled it back when Ronon aggressively snapped up his water bottle, ignoring Jackson. Ronon had already had about as much Earther as he could take for the day.

“You’ve been working with Earthers for a long time, right?” Ronon directed at the Jaffa man.

“Indeed, more than a decade.”

“Huh,” Ronon grunted and took a swig of his water. “When does all the stupid shit stop making you want to dump them into the ocean?”

Carter just rolled her eyes and sighed. Jackson kind of choked. Teal’c had a pretty good blank face going on, but Ronon could’ve sworn he saw his lips twitch.

“I could not say, as only rarely have I had access to such a large body of water.”

“So never, huh?”

Teal’c arched one brow. “Doubtless, you have already discovered that Earthers, like all beings, have a variety of personalities. Some are more compatible; some are less so.”

“Yep. That’s a never.”

There was a bunch of looking back and forth among the three that Ronon didn’t quite know how to interpret. He thought it might be Teal’c telling them to back off.

“Colonel Carter, Daniel Jackson, perhaps you could leave us to become better acquainted,” Teal’c suggested mildly, confirming Ronon’s suspicion.

Jackson had a frowny face thing he was doing, but Carter grabbed him by the elbow and steered him toward the door, smiling cheerfully over her shoulder.

“Sure, Teal’c. Have fun, guys.”

Once they were gone, Ronon addressed Atlantis.

“Hey, ‘Lantis. Teal’c got quarters yet?”

//He does. He and Dr. Jackson are in guest housing opposite the quarters Mr. Woolsey and Jae chose.//

She showed him an image of exactly where she meant. Ronon found the choice to be very sensible, which meant it probably wasn’t anything the Earthers had done on purpose. The quarters were within the central tower but on a floor that could be sealed off independent of any other security measures. He doubted the Earthers knew that part.

“Okay. That’s a good spot.” Ronon ignored Teal’c’s raised eyebrow and grabbed a towel. He wiped off his face, then tossed the towel in the laundry bin and jerked his head toward the door. “Let’s go put your stuff in your room.”

Teal’c did one of those mini-bow things again, and they found their way to the guest quarters. Along the way, Ronon found himself explaining the basics of how to open doors and find transporters. He also had to explain the fact that Atlantis was a being, not just a physical city. He couldn’t believe Carter had forgotten to tell him that part. It was that, or Teal’c just wanted to know about her from Ronon’s point of view.

“Very few are able to hear her in their minds,” Teal’c verified.

“Right. Just me and Tony for now. You have to be Satedan. Earther brains aren’t made the right way for it or something. No idea what would happen to your brain if she tried to talk to you.” Ronon had mental images of Teal’c’s head exploding, but he was sure they were his own imagination, not Atlantis. Well, 90% sure. Probably. “Maybe just call for her if you need her. Ask her to talk to you, and she'll usually appear in human form.”

Teal’c put down his single bag and removed his traveling robes. Underneath, he was wearing a leather vest and trousers that wouldn’t have been out of place on several of the Pegasus worlds Ronon had been to.

“So my meraska said I woke up with my bitch pants on today. You’re supposed to be pretty badass. Wanna spar before we talk about the morons at the IOA?”

Teal’c looked to be considering the idea.

“If we get staves or bantos and do it somewhere public, it’ll draw a crowd,” Ronon offered, trying to sweeten the deal. “It’s good for us, lets us show off, and provides entertainment for a bunch of other people.”

“A good workout can indeed make less pleasant matters easier to bear.”

Ronon assumed that was Teal'c's way of agreeing, so he led them toward a gym to pick up a couple of staves, then toward one of the city’s main junctions. It was one with windows and chairs, and there was already somebody there reading a personal tablet. Good. They'd spread the news, and it wouldn’t take much time at all to get a nice audience.

Over two hours later, Ronon was bleeding, his left wrist was probably sprained if not broken, and he was going to have more bruises than he could count. He’d given as good as he’d gotten, though, so Teal’c was in about the same shape. There was a huge crowd circled around them, yelling encouragement, cheering, or booing, depending on who they were betting on. Even Sheppard was there.

It was _awesome_.

Teal’c was everything that the reports about him had promised. Knowing that the man was going back to the Earther galaxy to stay was tragic. Even as he fought, Ronon wondered how he could talk Teal’c into staying.

He wasn’t quite sure when Carter showed up. She somehow got between him and Teal’c just after he’d landed a badass blow that had broken Teal’c’s staff in two. She tried to separate them, and she was saying something he should probably listen to, but Ronon’s blood was up too much to care.

Teal’c threw down his two staff halves. Ronon threw down his staff. They went after each other with bare fists. They only got in a couple of punches each before Starsong stuck her big face—literally—into it and roared at them.

“Ronon, Teal’c, _stop_!”

Ronon blinked away the battle lust to see Carter moving past Starsong to stand between him and Teal’c, her arms stretched out as if that would keep them apart.

“Let’s call it a draw,” she ordered, her voice strained.

The entire crowd groaned.

Ronon blinked, shocked to see Carter was really upset: distressed-upset, not pissed-off-upset.

“I do believe we became overly invested in the match,” Teal’c said, wiping at the blood dripping down his chin.

Ronon was proud that the other warrior was panting as much as he was.

Carter dropped her arms, distress turning to confusion.

Ronon stepped around Carter and held out his right hand. “The reports are right: you’re badass.”

Teal’c clasped his forearm. Yep. That was definitely a smile.

“Want me to show you the infirmary? Doc’s really good.”

“That would be the wisest course at this time, as I believe my ankle is severely injured.”

“So’s my wrist.” Ronon offered his shoulder, and Teal’c put his arm over it to steady himself as they started down toward the transporter. “You think you’ll come back? I haven’t had a really good workout like that in a long time, unless I was fighting the Wraith. I don’t count them.”

As they walked away, Ronon heard, “Does somebody want to explain to me what just happened?”

It was followed by Sheppard’s laconic reply, “I’m not totally sure. At first I thought they were trying to kill each other, but now I think it was just two really terrifying guys bonding.”

“Huh. I should feel bad sending them both to Earth, but I don’t.”

“You don’t think Teal’c might want to come hang out for a couple years, do you? We could use more like him against the Wraith.”

“Sheppard!”

*~*~*~*

_Gaussday, YangHui 30, First Year of the Returned  
(May 30, 2008)_

Tony looked around the Gateroom, not quite sure what zy was feeling. Zy had known zy would be going back through Midway to Earth with Ronon, Teyla, and Teal’c, but zy had thought that was the extent of their little group. As it turned out, the IOA had requested a security escort. That meant Logan Wolfe was tagging along, which worked out just fine for his own plans. In fact, Tony suspected he had maneuvered so he would be included.

Tony could tell Logan was tense, anticipating seeing his kyta for the first time in a year. He’d been corresponding with his ex via email, but she hadn’t responded to his last request to see Aaron, which made him worry even more than he had been. It turned out that Logan trying to talk to his ex-wife was much less productive than Atlantis negotiating with the IOA. _Those_ negotiations had been going rather well, much to Tony’s astonishment.

Atlantis was staying silent about it all because she didn’t want to put Tony in an awkward position with people thinking zy was influencing her for or against Earth. That meant zy had to find out all the dirt the same way everyone else did: gossip. What zy’d learned was that Earth had managed to negotiate the old, partially-full ZedPM out of Atlantis with the stipulation that Rodney would be the one to install it back on Earth.

Tony didn’t know everything Atlantis had gotten in exchange, but zy knew one thing had to be the new, long-term placements people were applying for. Tony privately thought Woolsey and Jackson had only agreed to the establishment of the placements because they’d thought no one would want to be assigned for an undetermined amount of time so far from Earth, not to mention somewhere that the mortality rate was so much higher than for the people assigned to Earth. More likely than not, those who did apply would be the people whom Earth wanted to be rid of anyway.

Zy wasn’t so sure about Dr. Jackson. It was possible he had agreed because he understood the desire to explore, plus he was Carter’s former teammate and friend. He might just want her to be happy (Tony assumed she'd applied for a placement though didn't know for sure), and he would’ve known she had orders waiting for her that would force her back to Earth when she wasn’t ready to go. Tony didn’t know them well enough to be able to guess how far Jackson would go for her.

Tony thought zyr first theory was more likely. From what zy could tell from talking with people, even the new ones the _Daedalus_ had just brought, the city was still a dumping ground for the too abrasive, too loud, too gay, or anything else too much for the base on Earth. Zy’d begun to suspect that even Colonel Carter had been sent partially because she was too influential with General O’Neill and posed a possible threat to Landry’s authority if he did anything ugly enough for her to catch wind of.

No matter what Earth’s reasons were, it was a victory for Atlantis. The scuttlebutt said the only people everyone was positive had been approved were Rodney, Wolfe, and Lorne. Those three made sense because Lorne and Teyla’s betrothal was the worst-kept secret in the city, Wolfe had started letting people know that his son was actually his kyta, and everybody "knew" Rodney would never give up a position that let him lord his authority over other people when going back to Earth meant he might be sent back to Russia or Antarctica.

All other requests were pending. No one could be sure exactly who had applied unless that person talked about it. Not even Tony knew, though zy was guessing there were a whole lot more applicants than Woolsey or Jackson thought there were. Zy couldn’t wait for it all to come out when it was time for the _Daedalus_ to head back to Earth.

The ability to grant what Tony saw as quasi-citizenship was probably the largest concession Earth had granted Atlantis. Zy assumed the second largest was that the families were being granted permission to join approved residents on a case-by-case basis. Tony had heard that Atlantis told Woolsey she was going to be highly selective, and the families she permitted would have to be useful to the city as a whole. The obvious exceptions were kysra. Atlantis wanted any and all the kysra Earth was willing to give her.

Tony knew Mason Grant was happy about it. He’d basically had a bait-n-switch pulled on him when he’d agreed to come to the city. He’d left the FBI and agreed to move to parts unknown as a favor to his godfather with the stipulation that his wife and daughter could come with him. They had been packed up on moving day in anticipation of the arrival of a moving company when a black SUV with black-tinted windows showed up to usher Grant to an urgent meeting related to his new position. Once they’d gotten on the freeway, he’d been beamed to the _Daedalus_ …without his family. Grant hadn’t requested long-term placement yet (Tony thought was only a matter of time because he seemed like a good guy), but Atlantis had authorized Saara Virtanen-Grant and Gemini Grant’s arrival anyway.

That whole Grant family situation, plus finding out that some Italian Major had had his request for his kyta denied by the Italian IOA representative had infuriated Atlantis. She’d demanded and received the guarantee that the SGC would try to send Wolfe’s kyta, the Grants, and the Italian’s kysra back with Tony’s group at the very minimum. She was angry enough that she’d told Tony the alternative was having her show up, hang out above the White house a la _Independence Day_ , and beam anyone she wanted into her structure, then fly away, which Tony still thought was hilarious.

“You got everything?” Ronon asked for the sixth time.

Zy smiled at him, keeping zyr temper in check. Zy knew both Ronon’s fussing and Tony’s temper were the result of nervousness. Neither of them were looking forward to the trip.

“Yes, _caro_. I have everything I could possibly need. We’re only going to be on Midway for a day, then on Earth for two at the most.”

Ronon grunted.

“I have found it is the nature of mates to worry over each other.”

Tony turned zyr smile on Teyla. “Evan freaking out about you leaving?”

She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. “Very much so. He would be here right now if I had not convinced Colonel Sheppard to have an emergency that required Evan’s assistance to resolve.”

Tony pressed zyr lips together to keep from laughing, but Teyla caught zyr anyway.

“It is alright, Tony. You and I are the only ones permitted to laugh, since we both rejoice in and endure our mates.”

Ronon huffed and sent Teal’c a look that invited him to commiserate, but the Jaffa was too wise to make a comment contrary to a woman and a pregnant kysra while still within their hearing. No person, human or Jaffa, would make it to more than a hundred years old without knowing when to keep his mouth shut.

“Well, if you know what you’re doing, then do it! I programmed the macro myself, Benson. All you had to do was push the button, but you couldn’t even do that right!”

“Ah, the dulcet tones of Rodney berating someone in the morning. It wakes a person up like freshly brewed coffee.”

That got Teal’c to turn around and look at Tony, one very dark eyebrow lifted in a silent demand for a sane explanation.

“Rodney is like coffee: hot, acidic, and bitter depending on where and how you get him, but adding chocolate always makes him sweeter.”

Teal’c’s lips twitched, and he dipped his head to concede the point.

Zelenka and two more scientists trudged toward them, carrying backpacks with heaven only knew what in them. Rodney had probably decided he couldn’t leave his favorite decoder ring at home or something.

“Rodney!” Zelenka shouted.

Rodney’s head snapped up, and he darted down the steps from central operations, no doubt leaving several people who were more than happy to see him go.

“It’s about time! Did you remember the—”

“Yes.”

“And the—”

“Yes, Rodney! You sent me the list eight times already since midnight! I have everything you demanded, though I don’t know how you’re going to carry it all.”

Tony slanted a look at Ronon.

He gave a cut-off groan. “If I don’t volunteer, you’re going to, aren’t you?”

Tony just grinned zyr favorite Cheshire-cat grin, the one zyr former coworkers had learned to fear.

“Fine. McKay! Get the bags over here. I can carry one. Wolfe’ll take one too.”

“Just when did I volunteer?” Wolfe complained under his breath but didn’t actually object further than that.

“I will assist you also, Dr. McKay. It is my hope that we will be on time reaching Midway so that we may be on time reaching the SGC.”

“See? Look at that, Zelenka. Some people like me.”

There was a smattering of Czech with an English “people like _Tony_ ” stuck in the middle, but everyone just ignored it and got themselves re-situated. Tony was going to have to learn some Czech someday. If zy spent enough time in the labs, zy’d learn all the best cussing for sure.

“Alright, Benson. Dial Midway, please,” Carter instructed.

Tony briefly wondered where Chuck was, but then the gate was lighting up and the not-water spinning into the room, then collapsing to form the vertical, blue puddle.

“Shall we go?” Teal’c inquired.

“Yep.”

Ronon reached for Tony’s hand, and they followed Teal’c and Wolfe through the wormhole.

“Oh nooo,” Tony groaned, stepping onto the metal grate in what zy assumed was the Midway station.

Zy managed to stumble to the edge so Teyla and Rodney could come through before the wormhole collapsed, but zy had to lean against Ronon and pant lightly.

“Is TonyDex unwell?”

“Maybe. Zy’s makin’ zyr morning sickness ‘gonna puke’ face.”

“Kyta Dex did not like the multiple wormholes, just so you know. Zy did not like them. At. All,” Tony whined.

“It shouldn’t have had any effect! It’s probably your anxiety more than anything, Tony. My macro was perfect! My macro is a freaking work of art and would never have caused nausea!”

Tony could practically feel Rodney frowning at zyr in worry.

“I'll be fine, Rodney.”

“Ahem. Are you all alright?” a voice called out much too loudly through the loudspeaker.

Out of the corner of zyr eye, Tony could see Wolfe offer the technician a thumbs-up. Ronon also raised a single digit, but it wasn’t his thumb.

“You’ve spent way too much time with the Marines if you’re flipping off people without even thinking about it,” Wolfe commented, far too amused.

“’kay. Let’s go so I can have a bed and some crackers.”

A short walk and one annoying scientist later, and Tony was lying down on a bed…one of the two beds available.

“What, do they think we’re going to sleep in shifts? There isn’t even enough room for all of us to sit down in here,” Rodney bitched.

“We could,” Ronon said practically, “but Tony sleeps the whole night where zy is.”

Of course, that was the coveted bottom bunk. Tony thought as soon as the kyta decided whether or not zy was going to eject Tony’s stomach, zy would argue it out. Until then, zy was going to shut up and rest and focus on keeping zyr insides where they belonged.

Rodney parked himself on the bed at Tony’s feet with his laptop, and Wolfe was rather obvious about appointing himself as the first shift guard at the entrance to the room. Oddly enough, Teal’c introduced Ronon and Teyla to the Three Stooges on the small television in the room. That and Rodney’s muttered complaints made a comforting background noise that allowed Tony to doze off until the alarm started blaring a few hours later.

“Stay here!” Ronon snapped.

Instantly alert, Tony sat up. Luckily, the nausea had faded and didn't return even under the new rush of adrenaline. “Fuck that! If there’s something going on, the safest place for me is right beside you.”

Ronon gnashed his teeth at zyr, but he didn’t take the time to fight about it, instead grabbing his gun belt off the top bunk and leading the group with Teal’c. Like usual, Tony and Rodney were put in the middle; Teyla and Wolfe were on their six.

They’d barely stepped out of the room when two Wraith drones came around the corner. Ronon had his particle gun up and had killed them both before anyone else had managed to do more than suck in a shocked breath.

“What’re the Wraith doing here?!” Ronon demanded.

Teal’c stepped over the dead Wraith and picked up their weapons, passing one to Wolfe. “I was about to ask the same question.”

The first place they headed was to the armory, where they all grabbed P90s and pistols, and Teyla found a staff sort of thing that Tony thought might have been a broom handle at one point in its life. Teal’c must not have been the only person who enjoyed fighting with more ‘primitive’ weapons.

“We need to secure the Gateroom,” Ronon stated.

“No,” Rodney objected. “We have to get to the control room.”

“More Wraith could get through the gate,” Teyla protested.

“Yes, but they can’t go anywhere else without the control room. We have to lock it down!”

“It is best we keep moving, and—” Even as Teal’c said the words and started out the door, he had to raise his weapon and take down more Wraith drones.

The rest of them followed behind, and everything turned into a first-person shooting game Tony had never wanted to play. They all worked together to keep firing at Wraith drones and trying to move forward. Tony had memorized the plans for the Midway as a way to handle zyr anxiety about the trip, and zy was grateful zy had because everything started to feel like a maze of silver-grey ladders, corridors, and doorways.

It was when they reached the evacuation prep room that their plans went to shit.

They heard a lot of boots marching toward them, so they all pressed themselves against the walls and tried to be as silent as possible. Once the Wraith were past the doorway, Ronon stuck his head out to check. When he pulled it back in, he was pale.

“They’re heading to the Gateroom,” he said, his jaw clenching.

Oh, fuck. Tony knew that look, and it boded nothing good.

“If you wanna go to the control room, you go ahead,” he told the rest of them. “I’m going after them.”

“Ronon!” Tony whisper-yelled after him.

Assuming they survived this, there was going to be _such_ an ass-kicking in Ronon’s future. Zy tore after him anyway.

“Dammit, Dex!” Wolfe snarled, sprinting behind zyr.

They all managed to get back into formation so they could cover each other better as soon as they got to Ronon.

There were more hallways, more ladders, more menacing doorways with the added fun of needing to track the Wraith without getting so close they heard them and turned around. There were far too many of them for just the six of them to kill.

When they turned a corner, the grey suddenly took on the strange, blue light of an open gate. Tony thought zy would puke, but it didn’t have anything to do with the kyta that time.

“They’ve dialed Stargate Command!” Rodney whispered shrilly. “How could they do that unless that bungling idiot Lee didn’t put in the lockdown code?! Or, shit, Kavanagh is up there. I bet it’s his fault!”

Ronon glared at him. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Indeed. We must pursue them.”

Ronon and Teal’c shared a look. Ronon smirked and nudged Teal’c with his elbow.

“Now you’re talking.” He turned to Tony. “No idea how this is going to turn out, but you’re no safer here.”

“I did not see any of the males,” Teyla pointed out. “Surely they must still be on this station.”

“Teyla’s right. We’re all going to Earth, just a little different than we planned,” Wolfe said, his eyes cold and dangerous.

When Ronon would’ve started into the room, Tony grabbed him by his shoulder, then fisted zyr hand in his hair and dragged him back, kissing hard. “I love you. Don’t die.”

Ronon’s grin was feral. “I love you too. Let’s go kill some Wraith, m’kysra.”

“Screw Epcot; you take me on the best vacations,” Tony snarked back.

Even with all six of them fighting, they barely got to the gate in time to get through before it shut down. Coming out the other side was even more fun than Pegasus to Midway had been. Tony ended up hanging onto the railing and puking over the side. Zy sincerely regretted eating breakfast that morning.

“Oh, jeez, really?”

“Fuck you, Rodney,” Tony retorted when zy could breathe again.

“Are they dead?” zy heard Teyla ask.

There was a pause, and Wolf replied, “They’re alive, just stunned. Probably something to do with that freaky, giant ball thing.”

“I dunno,” Ronon said, having verified Tony was going to be okay. He studied the strange metal ball at least three times the size of a sports medicine ball. “Never seen one of these before.”

Teal’c was trying to see the downed soldiers and looking up through the clear material that separated the Gateroom from the control center.

“It appears other personnel have been stunned as well. It is now a question of how much of the base has been compromised.”

They hurried into the command room and found the internal camera feed. Tony took the opportunity to rinse zyr mouth into a trash can with a handy bottle of water. Zy was sure whoever Walter was, he wouldn’t mind when he found it missing.

“Where are the Wraith?” Teyla asked. “It is not that I wish to see them, but I fear where they might have gone. If they have reached the surface of your world….”

Tony felt like puking. Again.

“They will be unable to do so,” Teal’c intoned. “The pulse of energy from that or another device has triggered the SGC automatic lockdown.”

“So nobody in, nobody out?” Tony guessed.

“Indeed.”

Ronon’s expression turned savage. “Just the way I like it.”

“Oh crap,” Rodney whimpered. “I’m with someone who thinks killing Wraith is _fun_.”

Wolfe had gone around, picking up extra ammo from the unconscious soldiers. He put in a new magazine, hitting it with his palm to make sure it snapped into place.

“Killin’ Wraith is always a good time, McKay.”

Rodney’s eyes went wide. He gasped and exclaimed, “Holy crap, you’re just like Sheppard! How did I not know this about you?” He glared at Tony. “How could you not warn me that we were going with Sheppard 2.0?

Wolfe gave him a slow, predatory grin. “Nope. I’m worse. I’m a Marine.”

Tony snickered.

“I believe we should move now if we wish to kill the Wraith,” Teyla snapped.

“Right,” Ronon gave her a sharp nod. “Let’s go.”

“Oh, goody. No more tin can, now I’m in a giant sewer. I exchanged metal grey for cement grey. The military really knows how to do interior decorating, don’t they? I wonder if they have a look-book for this kind of thing. Maybe I could get some ideas for the nursery.”

Wolfe snorted, but Ronon hushed zyr.

They were back to making their way down long corridors, past open doorways and rooms where Wraith could show up at any time. The unconscious people strewn about like a child’s forgotten action figures didn’t make it any less terrifying.

Then they came upon what looked to be a mummy in a uniform. Logically, Tony had known what the Wraith did to people. Zy had seen the photos and videos, but it was a whole different thing to see it in person.

Teal’c crouched down by the body.

“He was fed on by a Wraith,” Teyla explained, glancing from Teal’c to Tony. “We can do nothing for him now.”

Ronon added, “It’s not a good way to go.”

“Indeed.”

“You say that a lot,” Ronon pointed out.

“Pardon?” he asked, picking up the nifty, s-shaped weapon the soldier had been carrying.

“Indeed,” Wolfe clarified. “You say it a lot.”

“Do I?”

“Though I am not sure why we are having this conversation right now, you do indeed say ‘indeed’ a lot,” Teyla snapped, the sympathy in her voice when she’d been explaining about the body they’d found completely gone.

“I had not noticed.”

“Talk about talking another day. We must go,” she ordered.

They were off and running again, or at least rushing. They knew they had to be getting closer because there were more and more bodies of those who had been fed on.

Around the next corner, Ronon yelled out something inarticulate and drew his particle gun automatically rather than use the P90 he was carrying. He shot a drone, then ran forward.

Tony saw it just before it happened. Zy cried out zyr husband’s name, but zy wasn’t fast enough to stop the Wraith drones who had backtracked after their fallen fellow.

The drone slammed Ronon into a wall, but Teal’c took that one out with the weapon he’d picked up before.

Tony, Teyla, Rodney, and Wolfe began firing at the never-ending stream of drones that kept coming from the connecting corridor. For every one they killed, it seemed like two more took its place.

Another drone got Ronon by the throat and had him pinned against the wall. Ronon was left fighting off the creature’s feeding hand. Tony went from fear to rage and emptied zyr entire clip into the wall of drones, forcing zyr way toward Ronon.

Having gotten a small window of space, Teal’c turned and saw Ronon’s predicament. He snatched up Ronon’s particle gun and killed the Wraith keeping Ronon pinned. Tony felt like zy could breathe again, and zy grabbed another magazine from some unknown victim and kept firing.

When the corridor was finally cleared, Ronon took a second to lean over with his hands on his knees and cough. Tony was instantly by his side.

“I’m okay; I’m okay,” he reassured zyr, forcing himself upright.

Tony eyed the bright red marks on Ronon’s throat but nodded.

Teal’c handed Ronon’s gun back to him, butt first. “I would very much like to have a weapon such as this.”

“Yeah. Get in line,” Ronon retorted, taking the gun back.

He and Teal’c flashed each other barely-there smiles, and then it was time to move again.

Tony noted the bodies of the fallen were just stunned again instead of fed on. Zy wasn’t sure if that meant the Wraith were done with dinner, or they were going in another direction and zyr team would have to backtrack to find them.

When they came to a closed door, Teal’c put his shoulder to it and forced it open.

Tony almost laughed. This had to be the IOA people zy, Ronon, and Teyla were scheduled to be interrogated—er— _interviewed_ by the next day.

“Wait,” Teal’c ordered.

He moved slowly around the table where a human man was just getting to his feet.

“Ronon Dex, Tony Dex, Teyla Emmagan. This is Mr. Coolidge of the IOA.”

“Oh. Hello,” Tony said, not at all prepared to make nice with a bureaucrat, even if he was the one heading up the IOA. Zy was a little busy with the whole killing Wraith thing.

“Hey.”

“Greetings, Mr. Coolidge.”

“What happened?” the man asked, his face almost as green as Tony’s must’ve been when zy came through the gate. Zy hoped he didn’t puke.

“You were rendered unconscious by a Wraith stun device,” Teal’c explained calmly.

“What?” Coolidge staggered where he stood. “There are Wraith? Wraith are _here?_ ”

Wolfe could’ve taken over and probably should have at that point, since he was technically the ranking military person awake on the base.

Tony glanced at him, and he minutely shook his head.

Okay, so probably a story there. Tony wasn’t going to get into it while they were still trying not to die.

By the time Tony tuned back into the conversation Teal’c was having with Coolidge, Ronon was involved, and the petty little bureaucrat was ordering them to get him to a radio so he could call for help.

“What, you think I’m going to leave this in the hands of someone who isn’t even an officer, you aliens, and a—a _delt_? You’ve got to be kidding me. Get me to a radio!”

“I don’t think—”

_“NOW!”_

Tony was proud of Ronon for not ripping off the asshole’s face. Tony certainly wanted to.

It was with lips pressed tightly together to prevent them from saying something they’d regret that the team moved back into the corridors. This time, Coolidge was in the protected position with Tony, and it was clear he resented it until the first time they met Wraith. When that happened, he seemed perfectly happy to scream and flail about, then cling to Tony’s back as everyone else killed Wraith after Wraith.

They eventually came to a T-style intersection where they would have to split up. Of course, they had to clear out the Wraith first, which took some doing. Tony was panting and glad for a chance to wipe the sweat from zyr face by the time the dead drones were piled two- and three-high around them.

“Teal’c, go left. Take Teyla and McKay. I’ll go right with Tony and Wolfe.”

“Where is Mr. Coolidge?” Teal’c asked.

“Fuck!” Tony looked around, but all zy could see were Wraith bodies. Zy hadn’t even registered when the man had stopped whimpering and clinging to zyr.

“Dunno,” Ronon replied. “We gotta move.”

Eventually, Tony’s team found Coolidge and got him back to the command center where he could contact the military.

“Well?” Ronon demanded.

It was the damnedest thing: in a room without Wraith immediately in sight, Coolidge seemed to flip back to bureaucrat.

“I’ve contacted the military. They’re fully aware of the situation, which means, unfortunately, they’re preparing to nuke the base.”

_“What?!”_

Tony was glad to hear Wolfe and Ronon were as dumbfounded as zy was.

“Stargate Command has been compromised,” Coolidge continued calmly, as if nothing were wrong. Maybe he was just in shock. “The only way to fully prevent the Wraith from infiltrating the general population is to destroy it.”

“Tell them to call it off!” Ronon ordered.

“I can’t do that. Not as long as there is a single Wraith alive on this base!” Coolidge yelled back.

About that point, the rest of the people in the room started to wake up.

“Wraith? What, _here_?” a shorter guy with glasses said, his horror at the thought giving him a burst of adrenaline and causing him to get himself together faster than the others.

“Look, we’ll deal with the Wraith,” Ronon gestured impatiently to himself, Wolfe, and Tony. “You still got people alive in here. Buy us some more time.”

“We don’t have time,” Coolidge snapped. “There’s an escape hatch to the surface. We need to get to it immediately.”

Ronon gritted his teeth, and his nostrils flared. He refocused on the internal surveillance. “Where’s Teal’c’s team?”

“There,” Wolfe pointed, already having located the cameras while Ronon and Coolidge argued. “They’re surrounded. We’ve got to get back to them.”

Sure enough, Teal’c, Rodney, and Teyla were pinned down, fighting for all they were worth as they tried to get to the next junction so they could get away.

“We don’t have time!” Coolidge protested. “We’ve got to go!”

“Not without our people,” Tony snarled.

Zy was so done with the asshole and all his bullshit. Zy met Ronon’s eyes, then Wolfe’s, and they all started toward the steps. Tony was terrified, but fuck that little bastard if he thought they would leave their people to be eaten by the enemy. Fuck him with a cactus dipped in scorpion venom.

Coolidge was following them. “There’s a clear path to the escape hatch! We need to get out of here now!”

Tony whirled around and got all up in Coolidge’s face and jabbed a finger into his chest.

“You wanna run away and save yourself, _fine_.”

“We’re staying here,” Ronon added through gritted teeth. “We’ve got people to save.”

Tony’s heart broke for the agony zy could see in his eyes. After getting the chance at a family, Ronon was going to lose it all yet again. Even so, he knew better than to tell Tony that zy should go, that zy should escape without him. They would live or die together, and Tony was certain they’d have another chance. They’d sworn it to each other when they’d married, ‘in this life and into the next.’ No matter what happened, Tony would never regret choosing Ronon. In a second that held eternity looking into zyr husband’s eyes, zy knew he felt the same.

When they finally found Teal’c’s team, they had reached another T-junction and were pinned down from three sides instead of two. They’d also run out of ammo if the pipe Teyla was wielding was any indication. Teal’c was going at the drones, hand-to-hand. Rodney was pinned against a wall, using his P90 as a blunt object and trying to keep out of reach of a Wraith’s feeding hand, even using his legs to try to push the creature away.

That was the first Wraith Tony killed in the corridor. Zy made zyr way to Rodney’s side and pulled one of the extra magazines zy was carrying in zyr pockets and even between zyr back and zyr pants waistband. Zy and Wolfe both had scavenged every ammo magazine they could find as they’d moved through the halls, assuming they’d run out sooner rather than later if they didn’t.

“Here,” zy handed it to a shaking Rodney. “It generally works better if you use it to shoot. If you’re gonna go for a bat, I prefer a nice aluminum alloy.”

“I’d kiss you, but it would be like kissing my sibling—oh wait.”

Tony snorted. Rodney was gonna be okay if he could still snark.

They went back to killing Wraith, and time became a weird combination of too fast and too slow. Zy saw the Wraith that threw Teal’c into the wall, but zy thought he’d gotten back up. It wasn’t until zy heard Teal’c screaming in pain that zy realized he’d been hurt badly enough he hadn’t been able to get up on his own. The Wraith had pinned him down and was trying to feed.

Teyla practically flew across the distance. Instead of hitting the Wraith, she shoved her pipe up through its spine and into whatever it had that worked as a brain in its head.

Zy heard Teal’c say, “Excellent timing.”

She smirked at him. “Indeed.”

The last few Wraith died comparatively quickly, and it was finally over.

Yet not.

“We gotta get that little bastard to call it in. They’re still planning to nuke our asses,” Wolfe panted, swiping at the trail of blood going from his hairline down to his chin.

“What?!” Rodney shrieked.

They double-timed it back to the control center…. Well, they ran as fast as they were capable of at that point. None of them had escaped bruises or sprains. Tony was probably the least injured because they all had moved to protect zyr over anyone else. Zy was still exhausted, nauseated, and bruised.

“Why was the Wraith unable to feed on you?” Teyla asked Teal’c as they ran.

“I do not know. Perhaps I am incompatible because I am Jaffa.”

Wolfe remarked. “It’s a good day to be a Jaffa.”

“Indeed.”

Tony would swear Teal’c almost cracked a smile.

It turned out Coolidge was still in the control center. Tony thought it might have something to do with the fact that he couldn’t be out-braved by a delta. No matter why he was there, he was useful. He got the strike called off with minutes to spare, and everyone in the room cheered.

Tony shut them out and went into zyr husband’s welcoming arms. They tilted their heads, their lips coming together softly, then less so as they kissed each other, their hearts filled with joy and gratitude.

There was more laughter and some hooting and wolf-whistling, but Tony didn’t care.

Later, there would be medical exams to be endured. There would be unending meetings for explanations and debriefs. There would be blame assigned to them and others. No doubt Landry and the bureaucrats would do everything they could to point the finger at Pegasus, but Tony and zyr friends would survive. If they could survive the Wraith, they could survive petty assholes too.

There would be the mundane details like being assigned to quarters, finding clean clothes, Tylenol, and other essentials, and since their own were still back on Midway. At some point, they’d have to track down food and drink. After that, there was no doubt in Tony’s mind that their little group would sit around in one room until they absolutely had to divide up to sleep. Even then, zy’d be surprised if zy and Ronon ended up in a room alone. If there was a sofa at all, they’d probably end up with a bodyguard.

But all that would come later.

Right now, Tony, Ronon, and the kyta were alive. Their friends were all safe too.

It was a good day to be a Dex.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_Casimirday, YangHui 31, First Year of the Returned  
(May 31, 2008)_

The next morning, Tony and Ronon sat together on a sofa in the small office next to the room the IOA had been given and waited for Teyla to finish her interview. Tony decided to bring up what zy’d been thinking about ever since zy’d woken up.

“ _Caro_ , you know that first big fight we had? The one where you said I was naïve about the Wraith?”

Ronon nearly flinched back, but Tony resolutely held onto his hand.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I never should’ve said that.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Zy reached over and cupped Ronon’s bruised face, turning him to look at zyr. “I meant I think you were right. I could read all the reports, see the photos, and even watch the videos of autopsies and that one with John being fed on by that male he nicknamed Todd, but it isn’t the same as being face-to-uh, whatever that mask thing is that all the drones have where their faces should be. It’s nothing like seeing the mummified remains of people you know were walking around, doing their jobs an hour earlier.”

Ronon angled his body so he could touch his palm to Tony’s cheek and bring their foreheads together.

“I’m sorry you saw that. I never wanted you to see that in real life, but you were awesome, Tony.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Completely badass.”

They both grinned and, without conscious thought, turned their embrace into a full hug.

“You were too. I’ve seen you spar, and Atlantis showed me footage of you and Teal’c, but I’d never seen you fight like you did yesterday. You were—don’t make fun of me for using the word—you were magnificent. It was a little like seeing a mythical god brought to life.”

Ronon made a little growling noise. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tony breathed, kissing Ronon’s neck.

Ronon returned the favor, nuzzling and kissing the space between Tony’s neck and shoulder. He was offering love and comfort, not lust. They weren’t interested in starting anything more than that, certainly not where they were.

“I think it helped me, as weird as that is to say.”

“No, I get it,” Tony murmured into his t-shirt. Zy slid zyr palms down Ronon’s back, giving and taking comfort from the solid strength of zyr husband. “It made you feel back in control of your skills, your body.”

Ronon was silent for a few seconds. “That sounds right. It was a different kind of threat, but it was still something trying to take control of me, and I fought it off and won. A lot.”

They laughed softly, mostly out of relief at being alive. Despite having a good night’s rest—for some value of good, since they’d been relegated to the guest quarters in the mountain, though at least it was VIP guest quarters—they were still exhausted and a little bit in shock.

“You did win.” Tony leaned back so zy could press a kiss to Ronon’s lips. “You won, and you saved over seven billion people.”

Ronon blinked, both eyebrows shooting upward.

“What?”

“Well, let’s be real here. It was your decision to go after the Wraith who’d headed toward the Midway Gateroom instead of trying to get to the control room. If you hadn’t done that, Earth would’ve been invaded by the drones and probably by the rest too. There must have been a commander of some kind issuing orders.”

“Well, right. I know that, but seven _billion_ people? I can’t imagine that many people on the same world. I don’t know if there are that many people in Pegasus all together.”

“There are over seven billion on Earth, probably closer to eight billion by now.”

Ronon closed his eyes and cursed. Since Tony didn’t have Atlantis translating for zyr, zy wasn’t sure about what he’d said, just that it was profanity.

“Ronon?”

“I’ll be fine,” he assured zyr, raising his eyes to zyrs once more. “I just had a second there where I thought about what it would do to both galaxies if the Wraith had that many humans, that much ‘food.’”

The implications sobered Tony instantly. “They’d win. They’d take over the Milky Way and Pegasus both.”

“It was we, by the way.”

“What?”

“We. You were there. You helped save Earth too.”

“Huh.”

Tony blinked, and zyr jaw dropped. That…. That hadn’t occurred to zyr. Zy had helped save the world yesterday. Zy had killed who knows how many life-sucking, bipedal vermin. Tony and zyr closest friends had saved each other.

Suddenly, the prospect of facing zyr former colleagues later that day wasn’t quite as daunting.

There was a knock at the door, and Teyla slipped through. She was doing that serene smile thing she did when she had been surprised, but not with something bad.

“It is your turn,” she announced.

“Which?”

“Mr. Coolidge said you could be interviewed together, if you so desired.”

“Absolutely.” Tony stood and stretched zyr back.

“Don’t crack it,” Ronon requested, “please.”

Stopping when zy was just about to twist to crack zyr back and neck, Tony smiled. “Okay, just for you. I really am trying to break the habit.”

“I know.”

The interview room felt a lot like a group interrogating a suspect, but whatever. Tony could deal with it. All of the IOA reps were on one side of a long, dark table, leaving a single chair on the other side for the interviewee. Ronon pulled up a second chair, leaving the original for Tony.

Much to zyr surprise, the questions were all standard stuff, though Tony was a little confused that they all seemed to think that zy had been born on Sateda. Zy didn’t bother to correct them.

Finally, Coolidge asked, “Ronon Dex, do you feel that you can fulfill the duties of an SG team member with diligence, integrity, and respect for those in authority over you?”

Ronon leaned close to the microphone and uttered a very simple, “yes.”

“Tony Dex, do you feel that you can fulfill the duties of law enforcement with diligence and integrity, administering justice impartially, without respect to the individual’s status, rank, or place of birth?”

Uh, what?

Tony didn’t ask and instead leaned forward and repeated Ronon’s “yes.”

Coolidge looked to the members on his left, then on his right. Seeing no disagreement, he said, “Then that is good enough for me.”

Mind blown at how simple it had been after the way Coolidge had acted the day before, Tony remained silent as other representatives spoke to Ronon. They had a lot of complimentary things to say about Ronon and his fighting abilities. He was, apparently, exactly the kind of person we need out there fighting the Wraith. Then it was over, or so zy thought. They were the last interview the IOA had planned until after lunch, so when Tony and Ronon rose to leave, so did everyone else.

“Oh, Mister, um, Tony Dex?”

Stomach clenching, Tony turned back to Coolidge.

“You can say Kysra Tony or Kysra Dex. It is an honorific as well as a gender on Sateda,” Ronon informed him.

“Very well, Kysra Dex, if you wouldn’t mind waiting a moment….”

“Of course,” Tony agreed, keeping zyr expression neutral. It didn’t matter if zy minded. Zy knew well enough that if someone with Coolidge’s power asked zyr to wait, zy would wait.

After the other IOA representatives left the room, Tony and Ronon moved forward to meet Coolidge at the head of the table.

“Kysra Dex.” Coolidge looked down and pressed his lips together, then straightened his shoulders and met Tony’s eyes. “I, along with most people I know, have a certain idea about what deltas, what _kysra_ are, and what their place in society should be. Yesterday, a pregnant kysra obliterated those notions when zy—that is the correct pronoun, yes?”

Tony nodded, having no idea where he was going.

“Alright, when zy proceeded to go into battle against an enemy that I’m not embarrassed to say has haunted my nightmares ever since I found out about them. Zy was brave, braver than I, and fought as skillfully if not more so that the vast majority of XY or XX people could have.”

Coolidge’s cheeks flushed, and he swallowed, glancing away before forcing himself to meet Tony’s eyes once more.

“I hate being wrong, but you surprised me yesterday. It wasn’t just with your loyalty, but your ferocity and skill that made me question my assumptions. Your actions yesterday saved my life and the lives of all those within the SGC. Because of that, I have been forced to begin a paradigm shift of such magnitude that I am struggling to comprehend just how incorrect I was and the rest of planet Earth still is.”

Tony was beginning to wonder if zy was still asleep. That was not what zy had expected to hear from anyone on the IOA, _ever_.

Coolidge opened his briefcase and took out two slim, leather cases that looked a lot like the leather case Tony had for zyr digital tablet.

“It occurred to me that you saved my life, yet you have more autonomy and legal protection on Atlantis than you do on Earth. You may well be safer on Atlantis, where you might be attacked by the Wraith on any given day, than you are on Earth. That is unacceptable.”

He passed Tony the top case and Ronon the second.

“I posed the question to the IOA, and then to the U.S. President. I believe we have come up with a solution. There are others who enjoy diplomatic immunity when they are part of a classified project. In recognition of your actions yesterday, we have chosen to recognize the two of you as citizens of Sateda and therefore Ambassadors any time you are on Earth.

“In these portfolios, you will find your letters of certification and your identification cards issued by the U.S. department of state. I recommend you keep the ID cards on your person any time you are on Earth.”

Tony pulled out the card, which was about the size of a driver’s license, and tried not to gape at the official blue border, zyr photo, and the official title of Ambassador. Zy flipped it over and found the required statement, ‘This person has been duly notified to the Department of State and under international law enjoys immunity from criminal jurisdiction. The bearer shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention, but may be given a notice of violation. The bearer shall be treated with due respect and all appropriate steps shall be taken to prevent any attack on the bearer’s person, freedom, or dignity.’

Tony was so stunned, zy had to lean zyr hip against the table to keep from falling over.

“What does it mean?” Ronon asked.

Tony’s mouth moved, but no sound came out. Coolidge had to answer for zyr.

“You were previously issued something similar, Mr. Dex, and it gave you all the rights and freedoms an American citizen would have. This is the ‘amped up’ version, you might say. You and Tony both are exempt from the law in most cases. It makes committing a crime against either one of you a crime of greater significance. Not just local police would be involved, but the investigative branch of the Secret Service would be as well.”

“Huh.” Ronon narrowed his eyes and got a shrewd look. “That cover things like a crazy woman who got somebody to fake a document that said she and Tony got married so that she didn’t get kicked out of the country; then she stole all Tony’s money, including something called a trust zyr mater left zyr?”

The longer Ronon’s question had gotten, the wider Coolidge’s eyes had grown.

“That—ah—that definitely would be covered. And you say this person forged a marriage license to avoid extradition?”

“I don’t know that word.”

“Yes.” Tony finally got zyrself together enough to speak. “Her name is Ziva David. The date on the forged certificate, February 1st, is the same date this little one was being made, so I can promise you, I was nowhere near her,” Zy added, patting the Bump gently.

Coolidge flushed but duly noted down the date in the iPad he had picked up to take down Ziva’s name.

“Do you have any idea who actually produced the forged document?”

Tony paused. Did zy really want to go all scorched earth on their asses? For a moment or two, guilt held zyr back.

“Tony,” Ronon said, getting zyr attention. He put a supportive hand and the small of zyr back. “You just helped save over seven billion people yesterday. The least they can do is fix your records and get your money back. Those people who decided to steal from you? The consequences are on them.”

Tony knew Ronon was right. Zy forced down the guilt. “Either Abigail Sciuto or Timothy McGee, possibly both. They both worked with me at NCIS, and they probably used NCIS’ computers to do it.”

Coolidge’s eyes flicked up to look at Tony in shock, then back to his tablet.

“Could you spell Sciuto, and do you have a list of your assets?”

Tony did so, then said, “I don’t have one on me, of course, but I can give you the name of my investment broker. He should have records.”

Coolidge took down those names and a few more notes. He seemed amused when Tony managed to get across what zy’d had Rodney do to make sure zy was in a domestic partnership with Ronon prior to the date Ziva had ‘married’ zyr, without actually coming out and saying it or saying who had done it.

“I’ll get the investigation started on this immediately,” Coolidge said. “The final thing I wanted to ask you is if you still plan to attend a graduation this afternoon.”

“Yes, if it’s at all possible. If I have to limit my time, I’d rather skip the ceremony and see my friend in person. There’s a small gathering for him. I had a gift, but it’s back on Midway.”

Coolidge looked up from his tablet, and blinked. “Oh, you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Teams from Atlantis had to go to Midway to deal with the Wraith there. Apparently one of the Wraith males altered one of the bridge gates in order to gain access to Midway and Earth. Since we don’t yet know how the Wraith discovered the bridge, and the team from Atlantis couldn’t regain control of Midway, it had to be destroyed. I’m aware that Dr. McKay had the ZPM Atlantis is trading to earth. It was retrieved; however, I’m not certain if anything else was saved before they had to activate the self-destruct. They’re sending someone else with the ZPM and anything else they saved. In fact, it should be here by now.”

Tony had to make zyrself to breathe. Rodney was going to be horrified and blame himself.

“Was anybody hurt? Colonel Sheppard?”

“There were casualties,” Coolidge admitted, “but Colonel Sheppard was not on the list I saw.”

Tony half sat on the table and rubbed zyr forehead. When zy dropped zyr hand to zyr thigh, zy noted that Ronon was clenching his jaw repeatedly. Apparently, it was just going to be that kind of day. Zy reminded zyrself that it could’ve been worse, and it would have if their people hadn’t stopped the Wraith at Midway.

Ronon reached out to zyr, and Tony let him take zyr hand. “I guess we’re gonna have to go shopping again, huh?”

Tony laughed. “Yeah, but we’re going to have to use Rodney’s credit card. I don’t have any money until the Secret Service gets it back for me, remember?”

Ronon shrugged. “Rodney won’t mind.”

“Dr. Rodney _McKay_?” Coolidge’s eyes were wide and shocked. His eyebrows had risen up so high they were nearly where his natural hairline should have started, had he not started to go bald.

Tony had to laugh again. “Yes, Dr. M. Rodney McKay. He stood for me as my brother at my wedding, which makes him part of my family under Satedan law. He’s an awesome guy, but kind of…prickly. Like a hedgehog, but cuter. You just have to be careful how you cuddle him.”

Coolidge nearly swallowed his tongue at Rodney being called cute much less cuddling someone.

Tony’s smile faded. “I know it’s really difficult not to, but try to remember to give people a chance to make their own impressions. After all, I’m not what you thought a kysra would be, and you’re certainly not who I expected to meet when I stepped through the gate to Midway.”

Tony didn’t add that the guy zy’d met the day before, the one who had been an asshole had been _exactly_ whom zy’d expected to meet, but people could change. Coolidge had done a dramatic about-face overnight. Being rendered unconscious, nearly being eaten multiple times, then almost being nuked would do it if anything could. Talk about a series of life-changing experiences.

Coolidge flushed. “Yes, of course. I will try to remember that.”

Tony straightened, and Ronon moved into zyr side and reassuring warmth.

“So, hey, what’s your first name anyway?”

“Oh,” Coolidge blinked, like nobody had asked him that in a long time. “It’s Andrew. No short versions, just Andrew.”

Tony nodded and held out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you Andrew. I’m Tony. Just Tony.”

Andrew smiled hesitantly and took zyr hand. “I’m pleased to meet you, Tony.”

*~*~*~*

Tony was flying so high from the meeting that zyr grin nearly blinded Logan, who was waiting for them near their guest quarters.

He lifted one eyebrow and tilted his head. “Good interview?”

If anything, Tony’s grin got wider. “Excellent interview.” Zy flipped out the credentials and zyr new ID card. “Check it out. I’m _Ambassador_ Tony Dex.”

Logan’s jaw dropped. He took the folio Tony handed him, then Ronon handed his over.

“Holy shit. So are you getting Secret Service to escort you to the graduation? They’re the ones who protect ambassadors, you know.”

Tony snickered at the thought of back-in-the-day, Secret-Service Kate having to protect Tony.

“Nah. I convinced them that you and Ronon were enough to protect me and kyta Dex. They did say I get a gun of my choice, but nothing that’s too obvious.” Zy pretended to pout. “I guess that means the AT4 launcher is out.”

Logan snorted and handed the folios back to them, then threw Tony’s shirt at zyr.

“Here’s your laundry, Dex.” Logan had volunteered to do everybody’s laundry, since most of them had interviews, and Rodney didn’t have time because he was going to be harassing people in the labs to get them ready for the ZedPM. “Get dressed, and we’ll head out to buy something decent to wear to your friend’s graduation.”

“Uh, about that.”

Tony brought Logan into the room so they could shut the door, and zy ended up telling the story about the asshats at NCIS again. Wolfe was satisfyingly indignant on zyr behalf. Even facing away to give them a little privacy to change, Tony could tell he was pissed.

“No, Ronon. Wear those black jeans you borrowed. Please?”

Ronon gave zyr confused look.

“I plan to objectify you and ogle your ass at every available opportunity. I’m taking stuff with me just so I can drop it and have you pick it up. A lot.”

Ronon huffed a laugh, and Logan groaned.

“Plus,” Tony added with a slight flush, “they’re just like the ones you were wearing the night we met.”

Needless to say, Ronon wore the jeans.

*~*~*~*

Teyla and Rodney declined to go with them, so it was just Tony, Ronon, and Logan. Rodney didn’t have a credit card with him that Tony could use, but he called his bank and screamed at people until suddenly Tony was on a small account, and zy could pick up a card with zyr name on it at the local branch of Rodney’s bank.

Of course, Tony nearly had heart failure when zy’d realized that zyr definition of a small account and Rodney’s were vastly different. Rodney had been very smug about the whole thing, so Tony told him that he was going to be punished with at least an hour of snuggle time while they watched the baby videos over and over. For whatever reason, it did work for Rodney like watching a fish tank. He got really mellow then fell asleep more than half the time.

Logan commented that Tony was going to need to read up on the difference between punishment and reward before the kyta came along.

Ronon just rolled his eyes. “It’s a sibling thing, I think. They do this crap to each other all the time at home.”

Shopping with Logan was _hilarious,_ especially since he’d stuck his comm in his ear, and he demanded that he be allowed to check all the stores before Tony entered, which scared the crap out of anyone in the small shops in the upscale shopping center they’d gone to. He narrated the number and positions of the people who entered and left, and any time a salesperson would get too close, he’d suddenly be there saying, “Please don’t touch the Ambassador, ma’am. We can’t have just anyone touching zyr. Being here is a security risk, but the Ambassador insisted.”

Ronon got into it and demanded he and Logan get matching suits and dark sunglasses so they could both play security. Tony regretted letting Ronon watch all those movies with bodyguards, but zy gave up and let them do as they pleased. It was just easier that way.

Zy got a decent suit, though it wasn’t Tom Ford or Zynga. Neither of those designers made delta pregnancy clothing—not a surprise—and Tony had gotten to the point that zy needed the less fitted waistband unless zy wanted to wear something hugely oversized everywhere else. Zy consoled zyrself that at least the suit trousers looked as good on Ronon as the jeans had.

All in all, the two men made Tony feel significantly better about the whole experience and having to buy Jimmy a generic gift because his real gift had gotten blown up on Midway. If Tony hadn’t known Atlantis kept copies of absolutely everything, zy would have cried because zyr tablet with all the baby pictures zy’d wanted to show Jimmy had been in zyr bag back on Midway too.

Rodney heard about that somehow (which was when Tony started to suspect Logan’s comm wasn’t quite as much for show as he’d led zyr to believe), and suddenly a courier showed up at their location with a brand new tablet. It seemed Rodney had been ‘testing’ the new ZedPM by dialing a couple of planets. Of course, Atlantis just happened to be the first one he tried, and once the gate was open, well, he might as well talk to Atlantis and get her to send the baby pictures in a burst so Rodney could put them on a tablet and have it delivered to Tony.

Because that made sense.

Really.

Just because Tony wasn’t brilliant like Rodney didn’t mean zy’d fallen off the tuber wagon yesterday. Zy wondered if Landry had had an aneurysm at Rodney’s blatant misuse of the ZedPM. Ha! If only they could be so lucky.

Finding a place for the _Apollo_ to beam them to in D.C. was easier than Tony had assumed it would be. There was a hotel room the IOA kept permanently reserved, just in case someone had to be beamed to or from some important meeting in D.C.

“I’d imagine we won’t be taking a taxi,” Logan commented, straightening his blue striped tie one last time in the mirror.

Ronon had refused to wear a tie on account of them being “a way to tell your enemy that you want to die by strangulation instead of being shot.”

Tony strode toward the door, only to be stopped so Logan could go first and Ronon could walk beside or behind zyr. Tony sighed, glad they were still having fun with being ‘security,’ even if it was starting to get a little old by that point.

“No, they said they’ll have a car waiting.”

There was a shiny black Lincoln Towncar, and a young man sporting a Marine dress uniform and a high-and-tight haircut waiting just outside the hotel doors. Logan confirmed he was waiting for their party, and they were soon on their way toward Ducky’s house. According to the information Jimmy had emailed Tony a couple of weeks ago, the celebration was being held in the rose garden behind the house.

Tony started getting nervous again on the way. Zy’d forgotten what hell D.C. traffic was, and they weren’t even in the city proper. Zy had gotten ridiculously spoiled by being able to magically transport zyrself wherever zy wanted to go back home. Zy also had a tension headache. That, or zy had a headache from not having Atlantis in zyr head. Even when Atlantis was letting zyr be separate, Tony could always sense her as a sort of background noise sort of feeling. Zy hadn’t even realized it until zy had been on Earth long enough that zyr mind felt cold, and zy kept getting the feeling that zy’d forgotten something zy desperately needed.

“Hey.” Ronon reached over and took zyr hand.

Tony looked over at him and tried to smile.

“It’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

“I hope so.”

“No matter what happens, can’t be as bad as yesterday.”

Tony—and Logan, who was in the front seat—snorted at that.

“Yeah, true. It’s gotta be better than that, right?”

Ronon just smile and squeezed zyr fingers. He rubbed his thumb over the back of zyr hand every time Tony started fidgeting. Zy wasn’t cracking zyr knuckles, which zy called a win. Zy was trying to break that habit, for the most part. It turned out to be harder than zy’d thought it would be, since zy’d never realized how much zy did it.

Soon enough, they were in Ducky’s neighborhood, and the driver had brought the car to a gentle stop against the curb.

Tony saw Gibbs’ yellow charger, Abby’s hearse, and McGee’s sports car. Zy also saw what used to be zyr SUV, which meant the only person zy really wanted to see was there. Zy didn’t recognize many other vehicles, which meant they were probably more NCIS coworkers or Jimmy’s other friends.

“Are we getting out?” Logan finally inquired.

“Yes,” Tony replied, but made no move to do so.

“You want security or a friend?” Logan asked after another couple minutes had ticked by.

Chagrined, Tony huffed a laugh. “Uh, yes please?”

 “Alright.” Logan got out, then opened Tony’s door. “This way, Ambassador Dex.”

When Tony sighed and shifted zyr weight to start walking, Logan put a hand on zyr shoulder.

“Remember, you _are_ Ambassador Dex, and you just saved the fuckin’ planet yesterday. They can all go fuck themselves.”

Hearing an f-bomb twice from a man who generally didn’t curse much made Tony blink. Then zy grinned.

“Got it…. Thank you, Logan.”

Logan gave zyr a faint smile and tilted his head in acknowledgement, then got them started toward the house. He rang the doorbell, and the door opened a few moments later. By then, Tony’s heart was racing. Zy kept trying to tell zyrself there weren’t any Wraith in the house so zy needed to calm down, but it wasn’t helping. When zy was about to be faced with them, zy almost would’ve preferred to have faced Wraith instead of his former coworkers. Zy could kill Wraith without feeling guilty. Diplomatic immunity or not, Tony couldn’t exactly do that with his old team.

“Hello?” Michelle Lee, dressed in a soft, flowy dress instead of her suited-up-lawyer look, stared up at Logan, her brown eyes wide.

“Hi, Michelle,” Tony said quietly, moving slightly out from behind Logan. “Wanna let us in and hopefully not scream or do anything really loud to announce my presence?”

Michelle gasped, but clapped a hand over her mouth. She stepped back to let them in. When she dropped her hand, she was smiling brightly.

“I can’t believe it’s you!”

Pulling up zyr Very-Special-Agent-Tony-DiNozzo mask felt too strange. Tony just couldn’t do it, especially not when zy was standing there with Logan keeping an eye out for threats, and Ronon standing next to zyr being his normal, intimidating self.

“I told him I’d try.”

Michelle was nodding vigorously. “Oh, I know. He read me the email. We just didn’t think you were going to make it, not if you were—” she waved a hand vaguely toward the door, “out there, overseas somewhere. He’s going to be _so_ happy.”

Tony was relieved to hear Jimmy wanted zyr there. “That’s great. Do you think you could go get him without alerting the masses?”

“Uh….” Michelle looked toward kitchen door, which Tony knew would lead to the backyard. “Maybe? I’ll try.”

“Everybody’s hopped up on their crazy pills today, huh?”

“Do they really need pills to make them crazy?” Michelle bit her lip.

Tony just sighed. “Point. Different game plan. You walk out with Ronon,” Tony gestured to zyr husband. “Jimmy will recognize him, then say you need his help with something, and the two of you come back.”

Michelle nodded and straightened her shoulders.

Unfortunately, zyr plans were foiled yet again when Ducky came through the kitchen door.

“Who was at the door, my dear?” Ducky caught sight of Tony immediately. He actually staggered backward. “Oh. _Oh_ _my_.”

“Hello, Ducky.” To zyr bodyguards, zy said, “Well, I guess it’s time to face the music. No way out of it now.”

Zy handed the gift in its bright gift bag and plethora of tissue paper to Michelle. “Would you please make sure he gets that? I have the feeling it’s going to get busy, and I don’t want to drop it.”

“Of course, Tony,” she said, taking the bag, her lips turned down in disappointment or sadness, zy couldn’t tell which.

“Let’s do it, boys.”

Logan moved toward the door where Ducky was still gaping at Tony. He made a show of raising one hand to his comm. “Two in the house, one male, one female. We’re progressing through a kitchen toward the backyard.” A pause. “Roger that.”

“Sir, if you’d please move,” Logan stared at Ducky, stone-faced.

Ducky was so taken aback that he stuttered an objection, but he moved out of the way.

Having put Jimmy’s gift with the others on the credenza, Michelle slipped past Logan out the back door with a soft, “Here, just wait. Let me try first.”

Once outside, she went up to Jimmy and stood on her toes to whisper something into his ear. He made a face, looked toward the house, then looked back at her. She just smiled and patted him on the arm as she urged him away from where he was talking with—or being talked at, more accurately—Abby Sciuto, hyperactive, wild gestures and all.

Wow, and here Tony hadn’t thought Michelle was that brave, but subjecting herself to Abby on a roll? That took guts. Tony owed her.

Past Logan’s shoulder, Tony also caught sight of Gibbs manning the grill. Of course, there was no way Gibbs would let anyone else be in charge of his food, especially if he could be lauded for his supreme grilling skills.

Ziva walked up to him with two beers and passed one to him. Interesting. She must not be pretending to be pregnant anymore if she was drinking beer. Tony squinted. Did her hair have a significantly redder hue to it? Zy could’ve sworn it had been a uniform brown last time zy’d seen her.

Zy thought about that for the point-three seconds it needed to make zyr want to hurl and moved on.

McGee was talking animatedly to Vance, who appeared to be enduring it rather than enjoying it. Good. Let that asshole see what ‘the future of the agency’ looked like when he put all his stock in someone like MIT-Timmy-McGee.

Jackie Vance, her two kids, and another dark-haired little girl Tony didn’t recognize were over studying some of the roses. Zy could see her pointing out things and talking to them. It was cute. Too bad Jackie and the kids were stuck with Leon Vance.

There were a few other people standing around and talking in small groups, but it was nothing like the huge celebration Jimmy had said Ducky wanted to throw for him. Of course, Ducky didn’t know that other teams from NCIS had already taken him out for a round of drinks or whatever else suited them all. Once they’d found out that the MCRT was invited, almost all of them bailed on the party and had done something else to show Jimmy that they appreciated him. Tony certainly couldn’t blame them.

Tony glanced back to see that Ronon had Ducky cornered. He was speaking too quietly for Tony to hear, but from the pallor of Ducky’s face, zy could see it was an enlightening conversation…for Ducky at least.

When Jimmy got to the screen door, Logan nudged Tony back against the wall where they wouldn’t be immediately seen. Jimmy opened it and stepped through, blinking at the change from extremely bright, late-spring sunlight to the dimmer indoors.

Jimmy spotted Ronon standing over Ducky first and frowned. He started toward them.

Wary of only the screen door between them and the people outside, Tony murmured, “Hey, Gremlin.”

Jimmy stopped short and whipped around so fast he almost tripped over his own feet. Steadying himself on the counter, he spotted Tony. He seemed to light up from the inside, grinning so hard Tony thought zy could see every tooth the guy had.

Jimmy drew in a huge breath. Tony darted forward and put a hand over his mouth before he could say anything.

“Easy does it, Jimmy. Loose lips sink ships…or in this case, attract too-curious assholes.”

Jimmy’s shoulders shook with laughter, and he nodded. Tony withdrew zyr hand only to find zyrself gripped in a tight hug, the autopsy gremlin practically vibrating with excitement.

“Holy crap, Skywalker! I never thought you’d really be able to be here!” he whisper-screeched into Tony’s ear.

Tony laughed, some of zyr tension fading as zy reconnected with the one part of zyr life zy had been disappointed to give up.

“You’ve been in touch all this time?”

Tony was nearly surprised by the bewildered hurt in Ducky’s voice. Zy supposed he’d get around to the righteous indignation as soon as the shock wore off.

Jimmy eventually let Tony go, except for the hold he kept on zyr forearm, as though afraid zy would vanish if he let go completely. Which was ironically more possible than he knew.

“Yes, we have. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d never keep it from Gibbs,” Jimmy said with a fleeting glance over his shoulder. “Oh, hey Ronon. Good to see you again.”

Ronon smirked at the casual greeting. Jimmy must really want to drive home the point that he knew Tony and Ronon when no one else did.

“Hey, Jimmy. You take your lady back to that restaurant she liked so much?”

“Out of my budget at the moment, more’s the pity,” he pouted, though his eyes gleamed with amusement.

“Just get one of those little black cards. Tony got one, and now zy can buy anything.”

Jimmy laughed, having no way to know that Ronon really didn’t know the ins and outs of credit cards and how they worked. There wasn’t anything remotely like that in Pegasus. Heck, the vast majority of Pegasus didn’t even use currency.

“You look good, Gremlin. I’m really happy to see it.”

“You too! Oh, did you bring baby pictures?” he asked. “Is it weird if I ask to touch your stomach? It is, isn’t it? It’s weird. Sorry.”

Tony got zyr phone out of zyr pocket and undid the suit jacket. Zy smoothed zyr palm over the Bump.

“You can touch it; it’s fine. I’m not exactly huge yet, though it’s not as easy to pass as a guy with a beer belly to people not in the know.” The salespeople had instantly known the difference, for instance.

“It’s true, then,” Ducky murmured.

Tony wondered if the older man would have gone shouting for Gibbs if Ronon weren’t keeping such a vigilant watch on him, one hand on Ducky’s shoulder keeping him in place.

“It’s amazing!” Jimmy whispered, touching gently with his fingertips. “It’s so hard! I mean, I knew that happened, but it’s just strange to feel it and know there’s a tiny baby under there.”

Tony snorted. “You’re telling me! Weirder is when I can feel zyr moving. It’s just little flutters now, but I have the feeling zy’s going to kick a lot of ass, just like zyr dada and papa.”

Jimmy aww’d and withdrew his hand. Tony buttoned up the coat again, not liking having Ducky’s eyes on the Bump, even if Ronon would kill him before he ever got anywhere near zyr.

“Pictures?!” Jimmy was practically bouncing.

Tony unlocked the tablet and went to the gallery right away.

“Oh, wow! That’s amazing imaging. You’re right about it being advanced, experimental tech. I’ve never seen anything this clear at such an early date.”

They got through the images and two of the very short segments Atlantis had snipped from the longer videos before Logan alerted them.

“Incoming. We can take it outside, or we can leave. I’d prefer not to have a confrontation in a confined area.”

Jimmy looked so crushed at the mention of Tony leaving that zy couldn’t do it.

“Outside,” zy sighed.

“You don’t have to, Tony. Don’t do anything you’re going to regret.”

Tony put zyr arm over Jimmy’s shoulders and guided him into zyr little protected zone between Logan and Ronon.

“I’m not going to regret it. I just hope you won’t either. I’m not the same person they all knew and liked to walk on.”

“There might be harsh words?”

“It’s possible,” Tony grimly agreed.

“But I don’t have any popcorn!” Jimmy pretended to cry, making Tony laugh. Something within zyr eased once zy knew zy wouldn’t be ruining zyr friend’s party.

They made it to the screen door just before Gibbs reached to open it.

Logan swung the door open, almost hitting the other man in the face. Tony gave him points for trying anyway.

“Excuse us.” It was an order, not a nicety.

Icy blue eyes met steel grey.

“Who’re you?” Gibbs demanded.

“Above your paygrade, former Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs. Step back.”

Logan moved forward, forcing Gibbs to either get out of the way or be run over. Gibbs moved back with ill grace and a fierce glare. Tony thought Jimmy might expire on the spot from sheer delight. Even Tony was impressed with Logan.

Gibbs’ cold gaze locked on Tony.

“DiNozzo?!” he snapped out, a knee-jerk reaction.

That drew everyone’s attention more effectively than it would have if Tony had been beamed into the yard.

Tony got zyr little quartet out onto the cement patio, Ducky pushing his way past as soon as Ronon let him.

“Did you know about this?” Gibbs demanded of his friend, ignoring the exclamations of “Tony!” and “DiNozzo!” and “What are you doing here?” that were going around as the large group began to converge on Tony’s location.

“I assure you, Jethro, I had no idea. I certainly didn’t issue an invitation to him! I wouldn’t have known where to send one if I’d wanted to.”

Jimmy stiffened and snapped, “No, I did. I mean, since it’s my party and all, I thought I should invite _my_ friends."

“Well, who knew you had friends like these?” Abby sauntered over and leered at Logan and Ronon, twirling her black lace umbrella above her head like some gothic Lolita.

“I would dare to say no one,” Vance stated, closing in from the other side with McGee right behind him. “You have an interesting habit of disappearing and reappearing when you want, don’t you, DiNozzo?”

Tony bared zyr teeth at him. “I’m always exactly where I need to be. I’m magic like that.”

Ronon snorted.

“You always think you’re so special,” McGee sneered.

Ziva rolled her eyes. “He cannot bear not to be the center of attention, even at someone else’s celebration.”

“Jethro and I once remarked on Tony’s narcissistic tendencies,” Ducky said.

Vance snorted and snapped, “Well, I hope you haven’t come crawling back for a job, not when you went AWOL from the last one.”

Oh, fuck him. In fact, fuck them all. Tony was going to give a whole new meaning to the term ‘going scorched earth.’

“Boy, that must’ve just burned your britches, huh, Vance?” zy purred, zyr smile pure venom. “Well, guess what. After the shit Jenny Shepherd pulled using that agency for her own vendetta, there was no way in hell I was going to let you lead me down a road of blood and tears just so I’d be ready to throw away my own life on whatever agenda you’ve got going on at the end of the story. After all, you’re not Dumbledore, and I’m sure as hell no Harry Potter.”

Vance stiffened. “How dare you imply I would misuse my office.”

“Shut up!” Gibbs snarled. “Don’t you ever say Jenny was responsible for your failure to follow orders.”

“Following orders wasn’t the problem,” Tony sneered back before glaring at Vance. “It’s like you all completely forget that my job was investigations. You really think I didn’t do my homework on _you_? There were four people who should’ve been given the directorship before you, yet you just sailed in and took over. You’re just as far up Eli David’s ass as Shepherd was, maybe more. If I wanted to work for Eli David, I’d have moved to Israel. Except, from what I understand, they don’t want him either.”

Tony let zyrself smirk. Zy was going to owe Rodney for the rest of zyr natural life for all the dirt he’d found on Vance and David. “Of course, that’s assuming you’re even who you say you are. There’s doubt about that in some circles, I understand, Tyler. Oops, I mean Mr. Owens. Oh, wait. I guess you go by Leon, right?”

“Leon, what in the world is he talking about?” Jackie Vance had moved silently to her husband’s side and was staring at him.

“Nothing. A misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstandings don’t have DNA evidence,” Tony stated baldly. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way, ma’am, but you deserve to know the man you married isn’t who you think he is.”

“Shut your mouth, DiNozzo! You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, but I do. And now, so does Sec Nav. Good luck with that.”

Zy hadn’t had Rodney alert Sec Nav, but zy was sure he would the second Tony asked.

Knowing the truth when she heard it, Jackie’s eyes narrowed, and she called for her children. “Come on, kids. It’s time to go. Your father and I need to talk.”

Tony would’ve worried about the rage and poison in the glare Vance sent zyr way, but zy wasn’t planning to be on Earth much longer.

“You should never lie to your spouse, Tyler,” Tony murmured as they walked past. “All lies come out eventually.”

When Vance would’ve stopped, Ronon shoved him on. “Keep moving.”

Still center of everyone’s attention, Tony waited for the next attack.

Ziva had edged her way to Gibbs’ side. Anyone who didn’t know her would assume she was perfectly fine, but Tony did know her, and zy could see she was worried and furious. She certainly hadn’t expected to see her ‘husband’ at Jimmy’s graduation party.

“I can’t even pretend I know what that was, but I can’t believe this is happening. What are you doing here? Did you come just to ruin everyone’s day?”

Tony completely ignored McGee. Zy knew it would irritate him more than any response zy could give.

“Hey, why don’t you go to Michelle? She looks worried,” zy quietly told Jimmy, patting him on the shoulder.

Jimmy’s gaze flicked to Michelle, and his expression softened, but he shook his head. “Honey, c’mon over. You remember Tony, right?”

Unwilling to get too close before, Michelle smiled nervously but crossed to slide in next to Jimmy, fitting neatly under his arm once Tony had shifted away, Ronon moving up beside zyr.

“Of course I remember Tony. I couldn’t have had a better team leader.”

Tony nearly laughed. Going back to legal after having had a taste of Gibbs had been the right move. It was good to see her with some fire back.

“Why, thank you. You were an excellent probette, but I gather you’re happier where you are now?”

Sneaking a glance at a barely contained Mt. Gibbs, Michelle just smiled and nodded.

“Oh, phooey. This is just silly. Give me a hug, Tony!” Abby declared, stomping toward Tony, her free arm out to try to grab zyr in a hug.

Logan neatly intercepted her and pushed her back firmly but without hurting her.

“Please don’t touch the Ambassador, ma’am.”

_“Ambassador?!”_

“Like hell,” was Gibbs’ comment. “You really think we’re going to believe such an obvious lie? Nobody in their right mind would make DiNozzo an ambassador for anything more than drinking beer and hitting on women.”

“I think you would be surprised to learn how little I care about your opinion or what you believe, Gibbs. You made your thoughts clear back in February, though I see you’ve made progress on your own agenda since then.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Tony just smiled and made a noncommittal noise.

“If this is because I didn’t respond the way you hoped when you hit on me—”

Tony burst into shocked laughter. Zy hadn’t even considered that Gibbs would try that route.

“Oh, that’s hilarious! You think I was hitting on you because I didn’t want to fall in line with your plans any more than I wanted to fall in line with Vance’s?” Tony proceeded to laugh until zy had to steady zyrself on Ronon’s shoulder. “Wow, old man. It really is time to stop drinking your booze out of the same containers you use for your turpentine. It might help with the delusions.”

“Hey, you can’t say things like that to my Silver Fox!” Abby ranted, amping up her little girl act. “You have no right to say—”

“To say the truth, Abby? I’ve wanted to say this to you for a couple of years now: grow the fuck up, princess. Gibbs is a just a man, and he makes as many mistakes or more than anyone else.”

“How dare you say that?! I’ll have you know Gibbs has always made the right choices in the end. You’re disgusting!”

“No, you know what’s disgusting, Abbs? The fucked up Electra complex thing you and Ziva have going on with Gibbs.”

Abby squawked and stomped her foot, her cheeks turning red even under her ultra-pale makeup.

“That’s not what it is! You don’t know!” She started to cry, black mascara and eyeliner running down her cheeks. Tony had a surreal moment where zy wondered why she didn’t buy the waterproof stuff. It would make all her dramatic scenes less gross. “You try to pull your poor little rich boy act, but some of us actually had bad things happen in our lives. And Gibbs! He’s had—”

“Oh, for the love of— _really_?!” Tony interrupted, unwilling to listen to a ‘best of’ soundtrack of Gibbs’ tough life. “I get that you and Ziva have daddy issues and Gibbs has daughter issues because life has dealt you some harsh blows. Well, tough shit. Get some fucking therapy, grow up, and be adults. Maybe then you can give up the emo teen act, Ziva can stop trying to fuck her way into some substitute-daddy’s favor, and Gibbs can stop crying bourbon tears on all his boats before he burns them.”

_“Manyak_ _! Ben-zonna!”19 _ Ziva rushed at Tony with a scream of rage.

She was caught by Logan and put down hard.

“You piece of shit! Don’t you say that to them!” Gibbs ran to Ziva’s defense, but Ronon stepped in and dropped him easily.

There were grim faces and murmurs of shock all around, but no one stepped forward to help either agent.

Tony wanted to get involved physically, but zy was content to kill them with zyr words for the moment, and Logan and Ronon had been champing at the bit ever since they’d moved outside. Hell, Ronon had been dying to put Gibbs down practically since he and Tony had met.

“Anthony, I am utterly shocked and dreadfully disappointed in you. I cannot begin to understand why you came here if you intended to spew this—this _vitriol_. It seems to me that perhaps there is more to Jethro’s accusation than I previously believed.”

“Oh, Donald.” Tony made a tutting sound and shook zyr head in mock despair. “Since it’s been years and you still can’t get that my chosen name is Tony, I’m afraid I can’t put much stock in your powers of observation. I can’t understand why you think everyone should bow to your whims and eccentricities while you disregard our wishes regarding our very names.

“As for Gibbs’ accusation…. Let me put it this way. The man who’s got Gibbs pinned—oh, sorry, thanks for taking over, Balboa—anyway, this is Ronon. My husband. What I have with him is extremely satisfying in every way I can think of, the majority of them at least twice. I know because we’ve gone through the book.”

“Not every way,” Ronon interrupted, brushing off his suit and flashing zyr a savage grin.

“What?” Tony didn’t know where Ronon was going with it, but zy was sure it would be fun for both of them. Ronon’s ideas usually were.

“Not every way. There’s still page 89.”

Tony had no clue what page 89 was, but zy cocked zyr head and pretended to think. “Hmm. No, I’m pretty sure we did page 89. That’s how we knocked over the—”

“You’re gay?!” McGee yelped.

“—that shelf. The one with the plant with the purple leaves?”

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs roared, Balboa still holding onto his arm to keep him from lashing out. “You shut your mouth! Nobody wants to hear that filth.”

Without looking at Gibbs, Tony raised one finger in a ‘wait just a minute’ gesture.

“No, I mean the advanced version.” Ronon gave Tony a very thorough look up and down, which Tony had to stop zyrself from having a Pavlovian response to. It was not the time in spite of what zyr body thought it meant any time Ronon looked at zyr like that. “I know you said we’d probably need a couple more months of yoga to be able to do that one, but we’re more bendy now, so maybe we can try it when we get home.”

Tony put zyr hand flat on Ronon’s chest and looked up at him from beneath zyr lashes. “You have the best ideas, _caro_.”

Michelle snickered. Jimmy laughed, but then cleared his throat pointedly.

Tony blinked and made a show of looking surprised, as if zy had forgotten all about the people standing around. Zy wiggled zyr eyebrows and grinned. “You’ll have to forgive us. It’s been months, but we’re still newlyweds.”

“What in the world are you talking about, dear boy?” Ducky tried again, looking furious under his congenial-old-man ruse. “That’s impossible when you and Ziva are married.”

“That’s just it, Donald. I’m not your dear boy. I’m not anybody’s _boy_. I never have been. You know from what you saw inside the house earlier that Ronon isn’t just my husband; he’s the father of my unborn child.”

“Holy crap, you’re a _delt_?!” McGee screeched, as if Tony had just announced zy enjoyed fornicating with sheep while sitting on Queen Elizabeth’s throne. “I knew there was something wrong with you! Didn’t I say it? I always knew there was _something_!”

“In my homeland, Tony is my meraska, my wedded mate, and zy is honored as zy should’ve been here.” Ronon snarled, his gaze traveling over the shocked and disgusted faces, challenging them to say different. “You’re all _fools_ —except you, Jimmy. I like you and your lady.”

Jimmy smiled, but it was a tense thing that revealed that he’d realized how serious the situation was and how much worse it could get.

Ziva let loose an ugly, mocking laugh. “Surely you must be joking. Tony DiNozzo could not possibly be a delt. I would have known.”

Tony turned to face her.

“Oh really, Ms. David? Is that because you did a background check on me before you forged a marriage certificate so you wouldn’t be shipped back to Israel? I have to assume that’s it, since we sure as hell have never fucked.”

Abby reared back, and Tony turned zyr gaze on her. “Oh, I’m sorry. I mean before you had Ms. Sciuto forge a marriage certificate and add your name to all my financial accounts and assets so you could steal everything I had."

“That’s a lie!” McGee yelled, shooting worried looks at the people from other NCIS teams. Some of them were even recording the confrontation on their phones. Huh. So little Timmy had been involved too. It wasn’t exactly a surprise, what with the way Abby led him around by his dick, and Ziva badgered him into doing anything she said.

“Lovely diamond ring, Ms. David. Did you buy that with my trust or my annuity?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Balboa demanded. “Everybody’s been saying that you and David got married, then you ran into some old contact of yours and had to go into protective custody.”

Tony gave him an icy smile, but Logan answered before zy could.

“Ms. Sciuto and Mr. McGee used NCIS computers to perpetrate the forgery and theft. The Secret Service takes a very dim view of such acts, more so when committed against honored guests of this great nation. If I were you, I’d tell your director to plan to answer some _very_ uncomfortable questions over the next several months.”

Balboa’s narrowed eyes locked on Gibbs. Everyone knew neither McGee nor Sciuto would’ve done anything so serious without Gibbs’ knowledge and approval.

“This is madness! Tell them, Jethro,” Ducky demanded. “You told me Anthony married dear Ziva before he ran off or was abducted, whichever it was.”

“It’s a mistake, that’s all,” Gibbs lied through gritted teeth. “I don’t know what game DiNozzo is playing here, but I’m not going to stay and listen to it. I never wanted to come to this thing anyway.”

“Gibbs is telling the truth!” Ziva spat. “I married Tony to stay in the United States, but I am sad to say I wish I had not, now!”

When Tony merely scoffed and raised one eyebrow, Gibbs turned his fury toward Jimmy. “How did you invite him here when you said you didn’t know where he’d gone. You said you weren’t in touch with him!”

Jimmy lifted his chin stubbornly. “I didn’t know where Tony was, that’s true. I never said I wasn’t in touch with zyr. I just said I couldn’t help _you_ get in touch with zyr.”

“Yes, and that was a lie I shan’t forget, Mr. Palmer,” Ducky said, glaring at him. “You’d better hope you have somewhere else to serve your internship. You’re going to find yourself lacking the necessary approval to continue in your position at NCIS. I don’t take well to being lied to.”

Jimmy began to laugh, the sound hard and bitter. “I’m finished at NCIS. My last day was two days ago, Dr. Mallard. You signed off on releasing me from my contract weeks ago.”

“What? I did no such thing!” Ducky snapped. “Even if you didn’t plan to remain at NCIS, how could you betray everyone so outrageously?”

“How could you?!” Jimmy mocked as he finally broke down and yelled, “How could _I_? How about, how could all of _you_?! You’re the ones who treated me, Michelle, and Tony like shit, and then you turn around and bitch about being lied to. _You’re_ the ones who commit fraud and grand larceny and still want to cry about not being told when someone leaves?”

“It’s funny,” Michelle added, her voice soft but strong. “We turned in our notice the same day. We’ve been telling people; we haven’t tried to hide it at all. I guess we’re just so unimportant in your little worlds that you didn’t notice and didn’t care. I’m pretty sure that means you’re the narcissists, not Tony.”

“If that’s how you feel, why’d you let Duck put on this farce of a party then, Palmer?” Gibbs demanded.

“This,” Jimmy motioned to the yard, the food, and the people. “Was _not_ my idea. This was something I let myself get railroaded into doing because I didn’t want to leave on such a sour note.” He shrugged. “I guess it’s too bad for all of us that I gave in like I did.”

“Ambassador!” Logan barked, his hand touching his comm. “There’s a problem. We need to go.”

Immediately on alert, Tony snapped zyr gaze to him. “What?”

Logan met zyr eyes and said one word: “Aaron.”

Tony and Ronon both sucked in shocked breaths. They knew Logan wouldn’t joke about Aaron no matter what else was going on. Just like that, none of zyr former friends and coworkers mattered to zyr.

“Walter Reed, Tony.”

Oh. Oh _fuck._

“Can we get help in?”

“Out, maybe. In? No.”

Tony turned to Jimmy. “Sorry to crash your party, but I think I’m going to need your help, Jimmy. Please.”

Jimmy’s expression went from fury at the others to alarm. Without a word, took his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Michelle.

“I gotta go. Can you two get home?”

Michelle nodded, pale but determined.

Just at the door into the house, Tony remembered something Ronon had said several months ago, something that had made zyr feel better to hear even if zy had known the truth already. Zy paused and looked back.

“Oh, and just for the record, people: I have never, nor will I ever fuck Ziva David. I’d rather face-fuck a hungry zombie than get my dick anywhere near that bitch’s moneymaker.”

With that, the four of them sprinted through the house toward the car.

“What’s going on, Wolfe?” Tony asked once they were on the road, emergency lights blinking and Wolfe driving like Gibbs on a bad day. They’d left the young Marine behind to make sure Michelle got home safely.

Tony winced as they flew around another corner, leaving the sounds of screeching breaks and blaring horns behind them as they screamed through the intersection.

“McKay,” Logan grunted.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out two more comms and tossed them into the backseat before putting both hands back on the wheel, for which Tony was grateful.

Tony and Ronon got the little devices separated and put on. Rodney’s caustic ranting in zyr ear made zyr feel better immediately. It also solved the not-mystery of whether Logan had actually been reporting in to someone the entire time they’d been away from the mountain.

“Rodney? Talk to me!”

“Tony?” Rodney’s indignant huff was a welcome sound. “It’s about time! I thought you’d never catch on, and I was going to be stuck listing to tall, dark, and cranky for the rest of the day.”

“Which one?” Tony automatically retorted, earning a glare from Logan in the rearview mirror. “No, never mind. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Your cranky watch-wolfe asked me to check in on his kyta through some not-exactly-legal channels that I am brilliant enough to be able to access without getting caught. I know we talked about zyr before, but what I found was enough to make me worry. Then I found out something that told me the situation is code red, not just urgent: Aaron Wolfe is registered as a patient at Walter Reed this afternoon, and zy’s scheduled for complete sterilization.”

Ronon cursed loud and long in Satedan and slammed his fist into the front seat, making Jimmy yelp.

_“_ Mother _fucker!”_ Tony snarled.

Zy couldn’t believe Logan’s bitch of an ex-wife really was going to do it. Well, zy could believe it, zy just didn’t want to.

“I know! How dare they do this to zyr! You’d better get your asses there in time to save zyr, or Atlantis is going to be seriously pissed off, and I don’t know that Earth is ready for that level of rage from her. Crap, _I’m_ not ready for that level of rage!”

Ronon grunted, not displeased with the thought of Atlantis making the entire planet very, very sorry. Tony knew better. That kind of confrontation wouldn’t be good for anyone, least of all the kysra.

Rodney cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh, there’s something else, but…it’s, uh, bad.”

Hanging onto the front seat and the oh-shit handle as they took another corner at mach 4, Tony grimaced. The last time Rodney had wanted to tell zyr something bad, it had been a forged marriage certificate. Zy didn’t want to know what he’d found now.

“Just wait. Anything else can wait until after we’ve retrieved the Wolfe pup.”

Less loud, but just as grim, Rodney said, “Well, like I told your watch-wolf, I’ve got the _Apollo_ standing by to help just in case, even if Ellis is being bitchy about it.”

Tony snorted. That could mean anything from Ellis being reluctantly willing to help all the way to Ellis refusing to help until Rodney blackmailed him into it, threatening to put him on America’s Most Wanted or something else equally horrible if he didn’t do as he was told. The truth was probably somewhere in between, but closer to the latter.

Tony spotted the hospital out the front windshield. “Hopefully that won’t be necessary, but we’ll keep it in mind. We’re almost there, so keep an ear on us, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know what happens when you go anywhere without me. I’ll be here.”

“Um, Tony?” Jimmy questioned, looking just a little green, which was far better than Tony anticipated from a non-veteran passenger of crazy Marine drivers.

Tony grinned a shark’s smile. “Okay, buddy. Here’s the short of it: this is my friend Logan Wolfe. His ex-wife has taken their child in for a forced sterilization. We’re going to go in, fuck their shit up, and jailbreak his kyta. You up for helping with that?”

Jimmy gulped, then straightened his glasses and nodded resolutely. “Mr. Wolfe, take the access road on the right, then hang a left and go until you see the employee entrance. I have my intern credentials, so I think can get us in there and bypass security.”

Tony barked a laugh. “Good man, Jimmy. Good man.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **19** Manyak! Ben-zonna!: Bastard! Son of a whore! [Earth Hebrew]


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_Casimirday, YangHui 31 (cont.)  
(May 31, 2008)_

“Mom, please don’t make me do this.”

Aaron’s mom briefly glanced up from the intake forms to give him that exasperated expression he’d gotten used to seeing directed at him over the last few years.

“Oh, honey.” She heaved a sigh. “You know I’m not doing this to be mean to you. Can’t you see I’m trying to help you?” 

Aaron pulled his feet up on the edge of the faded blue plastic hospital chair and hugged his knees to his chest.

No, he couldn’t see that. To him, it looked like his stepfather had gotten in his mom’s head _—again_ —and convinced her to do something she never would’ve done before she met him. Ray hadn’t even cared before Ben had come over that time. Aaron was terrified it meant Ray was going to let his brother make Aaron “model” like he’d suggested that day. He’d already made Aaron let Ben take those pictures of him with his shirt off, and that had been bad enough. Aaron had no illusions about what other “modeling” Ben wanted him to do.

“Mom, _please_. I don’t want this. I don’t want to have the surgery.”

Exasperation moved toward anger, as it had so often recently, making her press her lips into a thin, irritated line.

“Aaron, stop. Just stop. You’re the one who decided you wanted to be male, so I’m helping you do that. Unless you’ve changed your mind about it—”

Aaron frantically shook his head.

“—then this is going to happen.” She reached out to pat his arm, and her tone softened, though her eyes remained cold. “This will be better for you, I know it. You’ll see it too once it’s all over. It’s okay to be scared, but it isn’t okay to let that fear keep you from doing what you know is right.”

Except Aaron _didn’t_ think it was right. Even if he hadn’t had the threat of what Ben wanted from him hanging over his head, Aaron wouldn’t have wanted the hysterectomy. He’d never told anyone, but he wanted to have kids someday. Like, physically have them himself. He was pretty sure he was gay, but it wasn’t safe to say that to anyone because they’d tell him he needed to be a girl delt, and that would be worse than being a guy by about a billion times. He knew exactly how bad things could get if he were a girl delt.

Aaron’s chest hurt when he remembered his best friend. God, he missed Shanna.

“Dad wouldn’t make me,” he whispered.

“Well, your father isn’t here, is he?” she snapped. Molly took a deep breath before she continued, “I sent him a message to let him know what was going on and to let him know what we decided would be best for you. He didn’t bother to write back much less call. You need to realize Logan is always going to put his career first.”

Aaron had promised himself he wouldn’t be a stupid crybaby, but two tears escaped down his cheeks. He sniffed and wiped his face on his arm.

“Oh, for pete’s sake, sit up straight, boy, and stop crying like a little bitch. You’ve got snot on your clothes,” Ray snapped. “It’s disgusting.”

Heart pounding, Aaron nearly fell off the chair getting his feet on the floor. Ray was supposed to be parking the car! Shouldn’t it have taken him longer?

Aaron’s mom looked up from the paperwork and frowned at both of them.

“Stop it, you two. I don’t want to hear you bicker today on top of all this.”

Aaron wondered, on top of all what? On top of forcing her delt son to have an unnecessary surgery that risked his life and ripped out a piece of his body he didn’t want to lose?

“Sorry, Mom,” he whispered, knowing it was expected.

His mom finished the paperwork and turned it in to the lady at the desk. Time seemed to skip forward again, and soon his name was being called by a nurse at the entrance to the hallway that led back to the pre-op rooms…and probably the operating rooms, too.

“Molly, you better go with him to make sure he doesn’t run,” Ray ordered without looking up from the outdated issue of _Men’s Health_.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, but she stood to usher Aaron through the door to follow the nurse.

“Hi there. I’m Keith,” the nurse smiled pleasantly. “I’ll be helping get you ready for your surgery today.”

When Aaron didn’t say anything, his mom shot him another irritated look before giving Keith her fake let’s-all-be-friends smile.

“Hi, I’m Molly, and this is Aaron. He’s just a little bit nervous.”

Keith nodded sympathetically. “I can see that. It is a big step, but I’m sure you’ve thought it through.”

“I don’t want it. I don’t want surgery,” Aaron blurted out, earning himself a furious glare from his mother and a pitying one from the nurse.

“Honey, do you want your stepfather to come sit with you instead?”

“No!”

Aaron knew the threat for what it was, no matter how sugary-sweet his mom made it sound when she said it.

“Hey, look, Aaron. There’s no reason to be nervous,” Keith tried to reassure him. “We do this surgery all the time, and Dr. Castor is great. He’ll take good care of you.”

Aaron wanted to scream and rant that he didn’t want the surgery, but a glance at his mom’s stone cold face told him she absolutely would follow through on calling Ray back if he didn’t behave himself.

With movements stilted from emotions that ran the gamut between terror and hopeless resignation, Aaron did everything Keith told him to. From letting Keith take his vitals and put the plastic ID bracelet on him to stripping and changing into the hospital gown and getting into the pre-op bed, Aaron silently obeyed.

When the phlebotomist came in to put the IV in the back of his hand, he gave up any pretense of being okay and let himself turn his head to cry into the thin pillow.

“—maybe something to calm him down?” his mom asked in a concerned tone as she tried to take his hand, then moved to petting his arm when her refused to let her. “It’s just, he’s never been sick except for childhood colds and flus, so all this is all terribly scary to him.”

“Sure, let me go grab something,” the woman who’d put in his IV said with an understanding smile. “With any luck, he’ll be one of those sensitive types, and he’ll go right to sleep.”

Aaron and his mom were left alone for a few seconds while they went to get whatever drug they were going to force on him now.

“Aaron, I know you think this is the end of the world, but it isn’t true.”

Aaron wished his mom would stop petting him like he was a stupid dog going in to get spayed. In fact, he wished she’d quit talking to him and just leave. Nothing was going to make this less a betrayal of the love she claimed to feel for him.

“J—ju—jus—just _go_ ,” he managed to stutter out.

“Oh, I know you don’t mean that, sweetie. I’m trying to be supportive, if you’d just let me.”

Aaron turned his head toward her, and she reared back from the hatred on his face. Good. At least she’d know he meant it when he snarled, “I hate you. _I hate you._ I will _never_ forgive you for doing this to me. _Never._ ”

The hand she’d been petting him with went to her chest, and her eyes filled with tears she blinked away.

For the first time in his life, Aaron wanted to hit her. Where did she get off thinking she had any right to cry? She wasn’t the one about to be mutilated.

The door opened, and the nurse came back with a needle in one hand.

“Okay, here we go, buddy. This is just a little something to take the edge off before we move you to the operating room.” He deftly inserted the needle into the IV line and hit the plunger.

“Alright,” Aaron’s mom cleared her throat. “Aaron said it might be better if I go so he can let the medicine work and try to sleep.”

Liar.

Keith seemed surprised, but he agreed readily enough. “Sure. Do you need me to show you the way back to the waiting room?”

She smiled. “That would be helpful, thank you.”

Aaron’s tears were slowing as whatever Keith had put in the IV started to kick in. He didn’t fight when his mom patted the blanket over his knee and told him she’d see him when it was all over.

Then he was alone.

Realizing that if he went to sleep now, he wouldn’t be able to stop the surgery, Aaron fought against it. If he was asleep, he couldn’t tell someone, _anyone_ that he didn’t want it.

He’d made it all of five minutes when the door opened, and Keith and another guy came in the room.

“Good, looks like that helped,” Keith said with a smile. “I’m going to start the medicine to let you sleep, and we’ll get you on your way. You’ll be done in no time, and you’ll be glad you did it. You’ll see.”

“No!” Aaron whined, unable to coordinate his limbs enough to stop him from adding the clear liquid to the IV line.

Ignoring his weak protest, the orderly unlocked the wheels of the bed, and then he and the nurse started to roll Aaron toward the door.

Not even the burst of fear and adrenaline could help Aaron. His eyelids kept getting heavier. Every time he opened them, the world seemed out of focus, almost foggy.

The orderly opened the door, then quickly slammed it shut.

“It looks like the hall is a little busy right now. We’ll just wait a minute or two.”

Aaron was almost too numb by that point to care—until the door crashed open, sending the orderly slamming into the end of Aaron’s bed, then onto his ass on the floor.

“Aaron!”

Aaron tried to focus on the voice, but the world grew dim around him.

“Aw, shit!”

“— _kill_ that sa’te wreth!”

A bunch of people started yelling, but there were too many voices for him to understand what they were saying.

Aaron’s skin prickled, and he shivered when the blankets were pulled back. For some reason, the air felt colder than it had before. Someone took his hand with the IV, and he felt a tugging sensation that made him whimper. Then he was jolted as he was lifted into someone’s arms. His head lolled onto their shoulder, and he wished he could think. The aftershave smelled familiar, and he tried to open his eyes, but it was too hard.

“Just hang on. We’re gonna get you out of here.”

It didn’t make sense, but Aaron knew that voice!

“Daddy?”

“I got’cha, tiger. Daddy’s here now.”

*~*~*~*

Aaron woke all at once with a gasp and tried to sit up.

“Whoa now, take it easy.”

Despite the dizziness, Aaron forced himself to stay sitting up, especially since he had no idea who was in the room with him. Blinking away the last of the fog, he clenched his fingers in the dark navy blanket. His gaze darted from one thing to the next as he tried to figure out where he was.

The room was small, smaller than he’d expected, and it was nearly all a blue-toned grey color. There was a single bed, which he was currently in, slid into the corner of the room, a small desk that also served as a nightstand, and a cabinet in the open space at the foot of the bed. There really wasn’t room for anything else except the chair that went with the desk. A stranger was sitting in that and was in front of one of the two doors, so Aaron assumed the other door led to a bathroom.

“Hey there, Aaron” the man said, his tone soft. 

He had no idea who the guy was, but he wasn’t trying to come closer or touch Aaron. That made him feel a little better about being alone in the room with him. Not much, but a little.

“Who—” Aaron had to cough and try again. “Who are you? Where am I?”

He wondered who had put him in the sweatshirt and sweatpants, which looked like his dad’s even if they were way too small to fit Logan Wolfe, who was a lot bigger than Aaron. No matter what, Aaron was grateful for the clothes. Any clothes were better than that hospital gown.

“I’m Tony Dex,” the man said, rising from his seat to hand Aaron a still-sealed bottle of water, “and we’re on a ship, but I can’t tell you more than that quite yet.”

Aaron was still feeling the effects of whatever he’d been given. His hands shook as he struggled with the stupid lid on the water bottle.

Tony offered, “Want some help?”

He blushed but nodded, and Tony opened the water, angling his hands so Aaron could see the whole time, then handed both bottle and cap to him before returning to his chair.

Though desperately grateful for the water—Aaron’s mouth tasted like he’d been licking hot cement or something—he couldn’t get past what Tony had said. A ship? The only person he knew who lived on a ship was his dad. Was it possible that he hadn’t dreamed that his dad coming to rescue him?

“My dad? Is my dad here?” he whispered hopefully, scooting around until he could sit cross-legged and lean against the wall at the side of the bed. “Um, his name is Logan Wolfe. Do you know if he’s here?”

Tony, who was also dressed in baggy USMC sweats, gave him an understanding look and replied, “I know you want him here, but your papa is dealing with stupid people. He’ll be here as fast as he can, I promise.”

Aaron rubbed his eye with the heel of his palm, totally confused. “What?”

“Your papa will be here, but he has to take care of getting full custody transferred from Molly to him, Aaron. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

“He is?!” Aaron could feel his heart filling dangerously with hope. “I didn’t think I could go with him where he’s stationed.”

“It’s a recent change.” Tony’s lips twitched. “Very recent.”

Aaron didn’t understand what was funny, so he pretended he hadn’t seen. “What if my mom won’t let him have custody?”

Then Tony grinned, making the outer corners of his eyes wrinkle. That was reassuring too: it meant that the guy smiled enough to get those little wrinkles. Aaron’s mom didn’t have them. Ray _definitely_ didn’t.

“Aaron, I know you’ve only ever seen the fluffy puppy version of your papa, but believe me, his name is accurate. Anybody who tries to keep you from him is going to meet the Big Bad Wolfe, and that guy gets shi—stuff done.” Tony corrected with a huffed laugh. “Besides, you’re in a vessel so classified the majority of the military doesn’t know it exists, located somewhere that is so classified it’s not even on most navigation maps. I can guarantee: your papa has you, and he’s not giving you back. The courts might as well award him custody and save themselves a lot of time and effort.”

Aaron’s relief was so profound that he found himself blinking away tears for the millionth time. Jeez, he was turning into such a freaking baby! What would his dad think of him if he saw how weak he was? Ugh! _That_ thought just made it worse!

“Aww, hey now! None of that. If you cry, I’ll cry, and that’s a complete disaster you really don’t want to see.”

What? Aaron stared at Tony through his tears, blinking in confusion.

“I can tell you don’t believe me, but you really should. I’m not a pretty crier, you know, with just a tear or two that slide down my cheeks. Oh, no. I go for the red-blotchy face with dripping tears and snot. It gets everywhere, Wolfe-pup, and it’s a mess. So seriously, don’t cry. Somebody’ll have to clean the room eventually, and nobody deserves to clean up after a Tony Dex sob-it-out fest.”

Aaron giggled. The first one slipped out, an accident, and then he couldn’t stop. It was kind of like the crying he’d done earlier that day, but a happy noise.

Tony just watched him with a soft, indulgent smile.

“There zy is.”

“Who?” Aaron calmed down enough to ask.

“The happy kid I’ve seen in all those photos.”

“My dad keeps a picture of me?” he asked ducking his head shyly. He didn’t know if his dad had a desk somewhere or not, but maybe he had a picture frame on it with Aaron’s picture in it. He really liked that thought.

Tony snorted and rolled his eyes so hard his whole head circled.

“ _A_ picture, as in one?” Tony made a _pfft_ sound Aaron thought was kind of funny. “Are you kidding me, Aaron? I can’t count the number of pictures I’ve seen of you: baby pictures, toddler pictures, little kid pictures. I’ve seen first step pictures and first tooth pictures. Then there are the first haircut pictures, which are really adorable, since you gave yourself the haircut with your papa’s razor. I don’t recommend you go to school to be a hair stylist.”

Tony grinned and winked at him, making him duck his head and blush. Gosh, his dad had showed Tony that one embarrassing picture? He hoped he hadn’t shown any of the other ones where Aaron looked dumb!

“Then there are the first day of school pictures. Wow, was your papa a hot mess when you started preschool! Somebody should’ve told him that stripes and patterns don’t go together in the same outfit. It’s a good thing the military picks his clothes most of the time.”

Aaron grinned and snickered. He remembered that picture. What had his dad been thinking?!

“Let’s see, then there are all the pictures of your childhood right up to the time he took you to comic con and you put his blazer on that cut-out of Jar Jar Binks. The most recent one is your school photo from last fall.” Tony’s smile changed from teasing to gentle. “I met your papa just a few months ago, and becoming his friend has meant getting to know you too, in a way. I can tell you with absolute certainty that you are the most important person in his entire existence.”

Suddenly, Aaron was smiling and crying at the same time.

He hurriedly closed his water and slapped both hands over his face. “Oh my _gosh_ , don’t look at me!”

Tony chuckled softly. “It’s alright. Happy tears are different and haven’t started turning me into a watering pot…yet.”

Aaron peaked through his fingers and saw Tony rubbing both hands over his stomach. It was like a light suddenly came on: no wonder Tony made him feel safe; Tony was a delt too!

“I thought you were just fat!” Aaron squeaked in horror and clapped both hands over his mouth, muffling his, “Oh my gosh, I’m so, _so_ sorry!”

Rather than be mad, Tony threw his head back and laughed. “You’re adorable _and_ hilarious!” Still grinning hugely, he said, “Yes, I’m like you. This—” Tony rubbed his hands over what Aaron had thought was a potbelly under the loose sweats, “—is baby Dex. Zy is at least fifty percent my husband’s fault. It’ll depend on what the baby is like. If zy’s ridiculously stubborn and prone to throwing zyrself into danger, then it’s definitely my husband’s fault. If zy’s more sneaky and prone to talking zyr way into and out of trouble, that’ll be my fault.”

Aaron blinked in bemusement. “Zy? Wait, husband?”

“Ah, that’s a bit of a story. Are you feeling well enough to listen to it?”

Nodding, Aaron moved to the head of the bed and leaned against that wall. Biting his lip, he asked, “Will you…will you sit here with me?”

“Sure, puppy,” Tony said, standing and moving toward the bed. “You sure you’re okay with me in your space?”

Aaron nodded again feeling a little thrill at being able to talk to an adult delt. “You’re like me. I know you won’t hurt me.”

Not panicking when he woke up with Tony in the room with him made so much more sense now that he knew. As another delt, _of course_ Aaron wouldn’t get the weird vibe from Tony that he’d gotten from a lot of people as he grew up, people like Ben.

Aaron shuddered.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Aaron looked up to see Tony sitting at the edge of the bed, his brow furrowed with worry. He bit down harder on his lip and nodded, shrugged, then shook his head.

“Of course you’re not,” Tony murmured. “Aw, crap.”

Aaron swiped at his eyes.

“Aaron, I’m not sure if it’s hormones or just because I feel like I know you, but you’re pushing all my ‘must parent and cuddle’ buttons. Would it be okay if I gave you a hug?”

Aaron tensed and tried to wipe away the tears, but they just kept coming. Tony stayed where he was and let him think.

“You’re my dad’s friend, right?”

“Yeah, I am, but that doesn’t make a difference. We just met, and I can tell you’re not okay with being hugged by a stranger, so let it go. I’ll just make your papa hug you twice once he gets here.”

Looking at Tony, Aaron thought it might be okay. It might even be nice. Nobody had hugged him in a really long time, probably since his dad was last home. And Tony was a delta, just like him. Plus, his dad had sent him. His dad wouldn’t have sent anybody who wasn’t for sure safe.

“I think—I think it would be okay. Dad’s not here, and I—” Aaron shrugged, and his chin wobbled. He had to wipe away more tears. He was such a gross mess, a crybaby like he’d been called so many times. “It would be nice if somebody who liked me….”

Tony tilted his head, compassion in his eyes.

“I get it. I know how it feels to wish someone would hold me.”

Tony tentatively reached out, and Aaron slid into his arms. Tony slowly closed his arms around him, giving him lots of time to change his mind. Aaron put his head on Tony’s shoulder. He was nervous at first, but he gradually relaxed until, with a soft sigh, he went limp against Tony. He could feel Tony smile against his temple as he ruffled Aaron’s hair.

“I know you’ve had a hell of a day, Wolfe pup. You’re safe now, though, and your papa will be here soon.”

Tony started swaying just a little, rubbing Aaron’s back and telling him about more pictures Aaron’s dad had showed him. Aaron kind of tuned him out and just drifted for a little while. He didn’t mean to, but it had been a horrible, terrifying day. A horrible, terrifying day in a long line of horrible, terrifying days, and he was totally wiped out. He wasn’t sure if he dozed off, but by the time he started actually thinking again, Tony was still kinda swaying, but he wasn’t talking anymore.

“Back with me?”

“Sorry,” Aaron whispered, embarrassed. “You probably don’t want….”

He was gonna make himself move now. Right now. Any second.

Tony made a rude noise Aaron always got in trouble for. “You have nothing to be sorry for, trust me. To tell you the truth, I’ve had a hell of a day too, so we’re only doing this, like maybe 40% for you. The other 60% is for me.”

Yeah, right. Like Aaron believed that! He rolled his eyes, but it was crazy because even though Aaron hadn’t made any noise, somehow Tony knew! He knew even though he couldn’t see Aaron’s face!

Tony rubbed Aaron’s back some more. “No, really. Before you woke up, I was sitting there wishing I had a teddy bear. I am starting to feel better, so, you know, good job being an interactive teddy bear. Or maybe an interactive Wolfe-puppy plushie. Five stars on your Amazon.com page and all that. Put me down as a snuggle reference.”

Aaron giggled and curled his fingers in Tony’s sweatshirt.

“So just relax, and when you’re up to it, I’ll explain about kysra: that’s the word for what we are.”

Back to himself enough to be curious, Aaron sighed and moved out of Tony’s arms, sliding back against the wall again, but at the head of the bed this time. When he tentatively reached out, Tony took the hint and shifted so he was sitting against the wall at the side of the bed, perpendicular to Aaron.

Aaron pulled his knees up to his chest so Tony could slide a little closer, yet he’d still be able to see his face while they were talking.

“So back to kysra. Kysra is the Satedan word for what we are.”

“Like delt?”

“No, not quite. Where your papa and I live, and where you’re going to live, is called Sateda. Satedans believe that at one point in history, spirit beings called the Vedaeus saved their people by creating a new type of human from a young man and young woman who were willing to sacrifice themselves to the cause. The Vedaeus combined the essential parts of the two, keeping only the good, and then made a dual-natured human form for their dual-natured person. No longer he and she, they became zy. Zyr name was Kysra, so now all of us born with that dual nature are called kysra.”

Aaron could tell he was staring, wide-eyed, but he couldn’t help it.

“So they don’t hate people like us? Or think we’re gross?”

Tony shook his head, an odd little smile on his lips. Wait, zyr lips.

“No, very much the opposite. They no longer have kysra for reasons that will have to wait for more explanation, so it’s really hard to keep them from getting overly excited and trying to kneel or kiss my hands or something weird like that.”

“Oh my gosh,” Aaron breathed. He could feel how wide his eyes were. Tony was talking about somewhere so different it might as well be on the moon!

“Oh, and kysra can be a title like mister or missus, so don’t be surprised when you get people calling you Kysra Aaron or Kysra Wolfe. They’re trying to be respectful. In fact it’s so ingrained in them that it’ll probably take a while to break some of them out of the habit. I’ve been there months, and someone I consider a good friend still slips and calls me Kysra Tony once in a while.”

“That’s crazy!”

Tony grinned and patted Aaron’s shin. “Oh, I know. I met my husband in America, and he took me back with him without warning me about this stuff. I was so weirded out when this lady knelt and tried to pledge herself to my honor or something. She’s my friend now, but that moment was so awkward for me.”

“They let you get married?” Aaron had to ask. The thought that maybe _he_ could get married someday…well, it made his heart beat faster just to think about it.

“Absolutely.” Joy seemed to radiate from zyr when zy smiled then. “That was possibly the best day of my entire life—definitely in the top three. I know there are videos of it, so you’ll be able to see it if you want to. Satedan weddings are a bit different than what you’re used to hearing about or seeing on TV.”

“So what are you called now? I mean, you said you have a husband, but you’re not a wife, right?”

Tony laughed, but not mean or a way that made Aaron feel stupid for asking. “No, I’m my husband’s meraska. You’ll also hear him call me m’kysra. When Satedans say it like that, it means they’re talking to someone who is a kysra and is also their lover.”

Aaron blushed. Tony was really good looking, so it didn’t take much think about zyr being with a hot guy like, well, like _that_.

“You’re adorable,” Tony said with a grin that said zy knew what he was thinking. “Really, you are totally adorable. Your papa is going to have to buy a million guns to threaten away all the people your age and probably even a little older who are going to want to court you. He’s going to go _nuts_ , and I’m going to laugh at him the whole time.”

Aaron bit his lip so he wouldn’t giggle. The thought of someone, anyone really, being interested in him was strange and made his insides feel like he’d swallowed a bunch of butterflies.

With that, it finally occurred to Aaron to wonder what had happened at the hospital. His memory was so messed up that he didn’t know if his dad had saved him before or after the surgery.

Feeling the blood drain from his face, he asked, “Um, at the hospital they were going to take away my, you know. Do a hysterectomy. Do you know if…?”

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry! I should have told you right away. No one touched you beyond giving you something that knocked you out. All your parts are right where they were, right where they should be.”

Aaron sagged in relief.

“I take it you want to be all fat like me someday?” Tony said with a teasing grin and patted zyr baby bump.

Aaron blushed again. “Someday, but not soon,” he admitted. He tilted his head and studied Tony. “You sound so happy when you say ‘my husband.’ I want to find somebody that makes me want to be their, um, what was it? Meriask?”

“Meraska. That’s very smart, since if you do have sex, you’ll end up looking like you too swallowed a bowling ball. I don’t think any seventeen-year-old is ready for that. I’m hardly ready, and I’m almost thirty-four.”

Aaron’s eyes went wide. Thirty-four sounded kind of old to be having a baby, but he didn’t say that, thank goodness! He’d already embarrassed himself enough for one day.

“What will the baby call you?” he asked curiously.

“The kyta—what a kysra baby is called and what we call all babies until they’re born and we know their genders—will call me dada, the short form of daetor. Zy will call my husband papa. That’s why I keep calling your dad your papa. Dada is only for kysra parents.”

“Oh, that’s really cool. What about fem—”

The door burst opened, startling Aaron and making him flinch back into the corner. Tony, on the other hand, suddenly had a gun up and pointed at the door. Whoa! So zy wasn’t just there to make sure Aaron didn’t panic; zy was protecting him too?!

“Dad!” Aaron yelled as soon as he realized who it was.

He practically flew off the bed and into his dad’s chest, where he was hugged so tight in his dad’s huge arms that he almost squeaked.

“Aaron, Aaron, my little tiger, my kyta,” his dad whispered into his neck. “I got’cha, tiger. I promise, I got’cha, and I’m not lettin’ go.”

To Aaron’s horror, he burst into tears _again._ Turning into a freaking crybaby every other second was so humiliating, but he couldn’t help it. Ugh! At least this time it was his dad, his _papa_ , instead of somebody he barely knew. Even if he really liked Tony already—and he did—crying all over his dad was less humiliating somehow.

It was crazy. Aaron had no idea where he was, no idea where he was going, but his dad was there. For the first time in a very long time, it felt like everything was going to be alright.

*~*~*~*

Rodney let himself rest his forehead on his crossed arms on the table for just a few minutes. He needed just a few minutes to breathe and let his brain spin uselessly. Then he’d be able to pull himself together and get through the rest of the day. Not that there was much left at 2340 hours.

Rodney, Wolfe, and mini Wolfe had all gotten shoved into a single room, since the quartermaster had allotted one room for Tony and Ronon, one for Wolfe and Rodney, and one for Teyla. She had offered to share hers with Rodney, but Teyla’s room was a single and about half the size of the one he and Wolfe were sharing, so Rodney declined. He had just made them bring another cot into the larger room. He’d assumed he’d sleep on that and let Aaron have the top bunk.

He realized Wolfe had other plans when he tucked Aaron into the bottom bunk. Aaron had clung to Wolfe, sniffling until the man sat down and started rubbing his back. He’d shot Rodney a glance that spoke of a painful death if he ever said anything, then proceeded to sing a not terrible version of that lullaby about a papa who buys a bunch of stuff for his kyta. Rodney was quite sure the original version had things like goats and diamond rings, not aknata, ZedPMs, and “the heads of anyone who’s mean to you,” but whatever. It worked, and Aaron eventually fell asleep. At that point, Wolfe had slid the cot up flush beside the bottom bunk. It was clear he intended to sleep there, physically guarding his kyta from any danger.

Rodney didn’t understand people most of the time, but even he could tell Aaron Wolfe wasn’t anywhere close to being okay. That meant he actually understood what Logan Wolfe trying to do. He wished he weren’t about to make the man feel worse. Ironically, he found himself yet again hoping that the person he was about to tell horrible things to wouldn’t kill the messenger.

“McKay?” Wolfe rumbled lowly.

Rodney raised his head from his arms and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palm. He wished he had some eye drops or saline or something to rinse away the burning dryness.

“Hang on.”

Rodney dug into one of the packs that had been saved along with the ZedPM from Midway and retrieved a round device about the size of the lid of a prescription bottle.

“Sit,” he ordered.

When Logan had, Rodney pressed the button that would turn the area around the two of them into a sort of cone of silence.

“What’s that do?”

“It’s a one-way silencer. Nobody can hear anything we talk about, no matter their tech, as long as we stay within a meter of it, but we’ll be able to hear if the door opens or Aaron has a bad dream and wakes up.”

“Nice.”

Wolfe slumped back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. It was possible he was as tired as Rodney.

“So what’s going on, McKay? What was so important you had to wait until almost midnight to tell me?”

Rodney cleared his throat nervously. “Okay, first, you have promise not to kill me. I’m the obtainer of information, not the originator.”

Wolfe scowled. “McKay.”

“Seriously! You have to promise because it’s about Aaron, and I know you’re going to be furious. _I’m_ furious. I just don’t want to die because the people responsible aren’t here!”

“Fine, just spit it out.”

Rodney touched the mouse pad to wake the computer from the screensaver mode. He spared a moment to be grateful Sheppard’s team had saved all his bags, since that particular computer had a whole lot of Atlantis’ modifications hidden inside an HP case.

“After you and Tony talked to me about Aaron, I ran an algorithm that searched all of Earth—including the deep web and dark web—for anything and everything to do with zyr. Most of it was what you’d expect for a seventeen-year old.”

Rodney pressed his lips into a thin line and debated about telling him about the medical records, then forced himself to continue before Wolfe’s patience ran out.

“There was something that wasn’t.” He turned the computer so Wolfe could see the screen and brought up the page.

It took a second, and Rodney didn’t think Wolfe’s brain understood what he was seeing. Then he reared back and snarled. “What the _fuck_ is _that?!_ ”

Rodney’s gaze was drawn unwillingly to the image of the obviously distraught kysra. Zy was upset in the first few images, and things only got worse once zy had been forced to take off zyr shirt and continue posing. General unhappiness became tears filling and then spilling from Aaron’s eyes onto zyr unnaturally pale cheeks.

The fear and shame on Aaron’s face made Rodney want to find another of the super soft blankets like Tony had and wrap Aaron up in it with a stuffed animal or something, and he was pretty sure he didn’t even have normal parenting instincts. He could only imagine what it was like for Wolfe to see his kyta like that.

“There are only a few images, and zy has zyr pants on in all of them,” Rodney was quick to assure Wolfe. He ruined it by cringing a second later. “However, this is on a site on the dark web that caters to people who want images of children who are…not dressed.”

 “ _Kiddie porn?!_ You’re telling me those pictures of my _kyta_ are on a site for pedophiles?”

Wolfe was incandescent with rage. Rodney wished he’d had somebody else tell him. The whole telling people terrible news sucked, and he didn’t want to do it anymore.

“I figured out who it is!” Rodney shouted in an effort to divert Wolfe’s rage from him to the actual sleazeball who deserved it.

Wolfe went still, his gaze so cold it burned.

“I found out who it is,” he repeated. “I tracked him down, and I know where he lives, where his—uh—studio is. I know his license plate number, and I have copies of his taxes from the time he started filing taxes as a teenager to this year. I have his credit card statements and know everything he’s bought in the last twenty years. I know _everything_ about him because I knew _you’d_ want to know! I’ll wreck his business and send all the information of anyone who has ever accessed the site to the FBI, but I figured you’d want to take care of the guy in person, especially after I found out who it was.”

“Who?” Wolfe growled, stretching the word into its own sentence.

Rodney swallowed, feeling like a rabbit about to be devoured by a real wolf. “It’s Benjamin Saunders.”

Wolfe’s upper lip curled into a snarl, and he demanded, “How is he related to my ex-wife’s husband?”

“They’re brothers.”

Wolfe was sucking in deep breaths, so furious he was vibrating in his chair. “I’m going to need to get out of the mountain before we go home.”

“See, I knew that’s what you’d say. I have an idea about that because I have stuff I need to do, too.”

*~*~*~*

Tony was so exhausted that zy was half asleep and didn’t even open zyr eyes when zy heard Ronon enter the room and strip off his clothes. Zy felt him slip into bed and curve his body around zyrs. Zy released a soft sound of relief, automatically pressing back into his warmth.

“How’d it go?” zy murmured.

Ronon grunted.

“Okaaay. Care to elaborate?”

Ronon kissed Tony’s neck, then sighed loudly. “It was fine, eventually. Long day, and I hate being away from you when we’re not home, that’s all. Jimmy said to tell you that finding out about aliens was the best present ever, though he’s sure he’ll really like what you got him as soon as he gets time to open it.”

Tony huffed. “He needs to worry more about getting everything packed up right now.”

Zy reached back and pulled Ronon’s arm the rest of the way around zyr until he was half draped over zyr back.

“You alright?”

“Yeah. It’s just…just seeing Aaron today. Shit, Ronon, zy’s so young, so damn innocent despite what zy’s already been through.” Tony laughed a little. “Zy doesn’t even curse, only says ‘oh my gosh’ when zy’s surprised or embarrassed. It’s freaking adorable, and if we hadn’t gotten there in time….”

“But we did, m’kysra. We won’t be able to save them all, but we got there in time for Aaron.”

“It doesn’t feel like it’s enough. I’m afraid it’ll never feel like I’m doing enough,” Tony admitted.

Ronon laced their fingers together and held zyr tight. “I know. I feel the same way. I’m here and so close to all these kysra, so shouldn’t I be able to do more to save them? Shouldn’t I be able to pick a bunch and just take them home with us?”

Tony huffed. “If only it were that easy.”

“We’ll keep trying. That’s all we can do.”

“We saved Aaron today. Maybe we can help Cattaneo’s kyta tomorrow. I heard the person zy’s staying with is refusing to give up custody. We could beam down there and grab zyr.”

Ronon made an amused rumble against zyr neck. “You better sleep now if you plan to pick a fight with another Earther tribe, m’kysra. The SGC is pretty cranky about what we did today, so you’ll need your strength if you’re gonna piss ‘em off again tomorrow.”

A yawn interrupted Tony’s snicker. “Unfortunately, even I know better than that. As much as I want to, I don’t think I can afford to push the SGC any further than we did today. We have a teenager we’re taking back with us, Jimmy and all his stuff, plus Grant’s family. It kills me to leave zyr here even another day much less what time it takes for them to negotiate the custody agreement.”

“I know, me too. I just don’t want to do something that will make it so Earth refuses to give us any kysra.”

“Very true. If we piss ‘em off too much, there are a lot of things the bureaucrats could do to make our lives very difficult.” Tony yawned again. “We’ll just have to do like you said and keep trying.”

“But for now, we’ll sleep.”

“Yeah. Night, _caro_. Love you.”

Hugging Tony just a little tighter, Ronon replied, “Love you, too.”

*~*~*~*

_Tesladay, YangHui 32, First Year of the Returned  
(June 1, 2008)_

Logan knocked on the door of the guest quarters where the Dexes were staying. Aaron fidgeted, clenching zyr fingers in the too-long sleeves of Logan’s button-up shirt, which zy had layered over zyr own t-shirt. Zy was warily watching everyone who came within fifteen feet of them from beneath zyr lashes, flinching away if they met zyr gaze or seemed at all interested in what zy and Logan were doing. It was by far the worst Logan had ever seen his kyta for that sort of thing. Zy had never been a social butterfly, but zy had never actually flinched back from people either.

Logan cupped Aaron’s elbow and drew zyr closer to his side, trying to make zyr feel safe.

They waited a few more seconds, then the door opened to reveal Tony Dex, who looked about as happy as Logan felt.

“Oh, hey.” Tony’s expression cleared. Zy opened the door further and gestured for them to come in. “What’s up, guys?”

Even as zy asked, zy was distracted by trying to pull zyr shirt down, then stretch it out to make it loose around zyr belly like zy wanted it. Zy picked up an olive drab uniform jacket and slid it on over the top.

“Couple things. McKay wants to go do something-or-other at Area 51, and then he wants to do some shopping in the real world too. We also have to relieve the guards and pick up your buddy, Jimmy. I got nominated to ride herd on them and make sure they keep out of trouble.”

Tony looked up and snorted.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Logan agreed with a wry twist of his lips. “I told him I’d stop by and see if you or Ronon needed anything.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” When Logan made an affirmative noise, zy dashed over to the table and started scribbling madly on the yellow legal pad sitting there. “I have a whole _list_ of stuff. We were only supposed to be here two days, and none of my stuff was supposed to get blown up. I’m not going to cry about the stuff I lost, but I _am_ going to throw a Rodney-McKay-style fit if I can’t get deodorant that doesn’t stink like Axe or Old Spice Sport.”

Logan sighed but kept it quiet, since Aaron looked like zy was on the verge of actual amusement, zyr eyes clear instead of filled with unhappy shadows for the first time since he’d seen zyr awake. He wasn’t quite sure what the two kysra had bonded over, maybe just the fact that they were both kysra, but Logan was thanking the Lord that Aaron had taken to Tony. Zy kept ducking away and curling in on zyrself like a terrified puppy around everyone else—even Logan himself if he moved too quickly. It made him feel even more homicidal toward his ex-wife, who was now and forever That Bitch in his mind, and her piece of shit new husband who was a dead man walking.

“I knew I’d regret asking.”

“Meh. Suck it up, buttercup. Ronon and I are the ones on lockdown inside the mountain. I have no pity for you people who get to leave.”

“Speaking of which, would you mind if Aaron hangs out with you while I’m gone?”

“’Course not,” Tony replied, finally looking up from what was getting to be a painfully long list in order to toss Aaron a bright grin. “I was just getting ready to head down to the gym. They talked Ronon into sparring with a few people before lunch.”

“They talked him into it, huh?” Logan chucked meanly. “Those poor bastards have no idea what they’re in for. I wish I could stay and watch.”

Tony gasped and clutched zyr chest, zyr eyes wide. “Logan Wolfe! I do declare, am shocked! Shocked and appalled at such language in front of this sweet, impressionable young kysra!”

Zy was teasing, and he knew it, but zy did have a point even if Logan only rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Scarlett O’Hara needs her terrible Southern accent back,” he retorted. “You done with that list yet?”

Tearing the page from the tablet, Tony presented it with a flourish.

Logan skimmed down the list until he came to the last line, which read, ‘sense of humor for cranky grunts.’

He pretended to glare. “Cute, Dex. Maybe I should add ‘ability to mimic accents, for delusional investigators.’”

Tony just laughed and clapped his shoulder as zy passed him on zyr way to the dresser and zyr Glock. Zy checked the weapon and the magazine before casually tucking it in the back of zyr pants. Zy picked up a new deck of cards and slipped those into one of the pockets on the leg of zyr olive uniform pants.

A glance showed Aaron was blinking away astonishment. Logan wasn’t sure if that was because Tony was being sassy, or if it was because zy had a gun. Probably both.

Tony clapped zyr hands together, then strode over to Aaron and casually tucked zyr against zyr side.

“Alright, get out of here, Mr. Cranky. My cute little protégé and I will go watch Ronon make grunts cry for a while, and then I’ll teach zyr how to play poker.”

“No gambling,” Logan said, his eyes narrowed in warning.

The smile Tony gave him was not reassuring.

“Of course not! Perish the thought! We’re just going to keep ourselves entertained once were tired of watching Ronon. Then we’ll go to lunch with him.” Zyr grin turned sly. “Besides. Aaron has to earn zyr money in the time-honored fashion of all military brats: by making a ‘swear jar’ that costs zyr papa a dollar per swear word—more for the really bad ones.”

Secretly delighted at the way Aaron’s face lit up at the prospect, Logan let out a long-suffering sigh and gently gripped Aaron’s shoulders so he could kiss zyr on the forehead and ruffle zyr hair. Then, feeling mischievous, he grabbed Tony and ruffled zyr hair too, making zyr squawk indignantly, and making Aaron giggle. It was the first truly happy sound he’d heard from his kyta, so he counted that as a major win.

“Fine, go. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I might even have McKay with me if I don’t kill him first.”

Once they were all out the door, Tony pocketed the electronic card that would unlock zyr quarters and tugged Aaron with zyr down the corridor.

In a pseudo-whisper, zy said, “As soon as your papa is gone, we’ll talk about the other time-honored method of earning money: parental extortion. Then there are the other things you might want to trade or barter for, like rides in a jumper or a trip to see the Athosians. Don’t worry. I’ll help you get him wrapped around your little finger in no time.”

Logan wasn’t quite sure how he felt about Tony’s methods of distraction until he saw two corpsmen come around the corner just as Aaron and Tony reached it. Other than moving to the side so the others could pass, Aaron was so enthralled zy barely even noticed them.

Logan’s chest tightened at the sign that Aaron really was going to be alright one day.

Aww, hell. Logan was a pushover now, so there was no way he _wasn’t_ going to end up wrapped around Aaron’s little finger. He should probably pick out a couple jars Aaron could choose from to make zyr swear jar and save himself the trouble of pretending it wasn’t going to happen.

First, though, Logan needed to focus on what he needed to do to get off the base and take care of his personal to-do list.

*~*~*~*

“So what do you think?” Tony asked, watching the young kysra who was straddling the opposite side of the bench they’d commandeered for their game. The deck and the discard pile were on the bench between them.

Tony had made sure to put them in a spot where they could easily watch the rest of the room, yet they were out of the way enough that people weren’t tripping over them or tempted to strike up a conversation. Ronon had seen them enter the gym and had shot them a spirited grin before returning to the smack-down he’d been giving his most recent victim. Tony really couldn’t pity them when they were the ones who’d literally asked for it after hearing that Ronon and Teal’c had fought each other to a standstill.

Aaron frowned at zyr cards. Tony assumed that meant zy had a terrible hand, since the kid couldn’t bluff to save zyr life. Count cards? Quite possibly, if the winning streak zy was on was any indication, but bluff? An ice cube had a better chance of staying frozen in the heart of a volcano.

“But what if I know you have the card I want?”

Well, that solved the counting cards question.

“There’s no way to get it, not in this game. I’ll teach you a version of rummy later if you want.”

Aaron gave a heavy sigh and looked up at zyr with big brown eyes, a little pout turning down the corners of zyr lips.

Tony caved immediately. “Or we could both fold and try rummy now.”

“Okay,” zy replied, brightening considerably.

The kid was going to be an absolute menace once zy knew how to do that on purpose.

Rummy instruction went far better and seemed to make more sense to Aaron, for whatever reason. Once zy had caught on, Tony ended up entertaining zyr with amusing stories from zyr time as a cop. Those were always crowd-pleasers.

Close to the end of the last one, zy looked up and noticed Ronon sauntering toward them, grinning victoriously. Zy grinned back, but zy finished zyr story, ending with a punchline that had Aaron giggling.

Catching the movement of a hand out of the corner of zyr eye, Tony instinctively flinched.

When the expected headslap didn’t land, zy straightened to see both Ronon and Aaron staring at zyr in shock and horror, though probably not for the same reasons.

“M’kysra?” Ronon had stopped moving, his hand frozen in mid-air.

“Oh, crap.” Tony wanted to headslap zyrself, but settled for rubbing the back of zyr neck.

“Did you think I would hit you?” Ronon knelt down beside zyr, his devastation in his eyes.

Tony immediately denied it. “No. No, of course not.”

“Then….”

Zy sighed. Zy would have to explain it so Aaron didn’t think…. Shit, the great Spielberg only knew what Aaron would think.

“You know how much you like my former boss?” zy asked, taking Ronon’s hand between zyr own.

Ronon grunted.

“Well, he’d get frustrated, and sometimes he dealt with it by smacking me in the back of the head. He said it was a wake-up call to get me to focus.” Zy made a face. “I guess seeing him yesterday, as satisfying as it was to tell him off, triggered that reaction in my subconscious. I have never thought you’d hit or hurt me, Ronon. I swear.”

“I’ll kill him,” Ronon said flatly.

“Not worth your time, _caro_. I have no intention of seeing him ever again, and he has no relevance to our lives. We’ll go back to Atlantis and forget he ever existed.”

Grim-faced, Ronon studied zyr. Tony brought their hands to zyr lips, and kissed his knuckles, which were already showing some obvious bruising.

“I’m telling you the truth, _caro_. Think about it: have I ever flinched or jerked back from you like I was afraid of you?”

Ronon studied zyr for several seconds before reluctantly conceding. “We could have McKay figure out how to beam him into space and leave him there. Or drop him off the edge of that big, red-orange bridge.”

Tony chuckled at that. “Rodney would hate wasting his time that way, and that big bridge is a long way from here. It would be more trouble than he’s worth, trust me.”

“I’d figure out a way to make it worth his while.”

“I’m sure you would, but please don’t. Gibbs is a miserable, lonely man who can’t see beyond what he lost to experience and enjoy the life he has now. Other than building his boats in his basement, which he always sets fire to after they’re finished, he has nothing except his work. He’s sabotaged every romantic relationship he’s been in since his first wife died, and I don’t think he’ll ever form healthy friendships with anyone unless he gets some serious therapy. His life isn’t going to get any better, especially once the Secret Service get to questioning him about any number of things he’s done since he started at NCIS. You want him alive to keep suffering, right?”

“It’s more important to me that you feel safe,” Ronon persisted stubbornly.

Tony leaned forward and kissed him. It was chaste but lingering, enough that Tony caught Aaron’s bright red blush out of the corner of zyr eye.

“I do feel safe; more than that, I feel loved and happy, which is more than I ever expected when I lived on Earth.”

Ronon’s full lips curved in a soft kind of joy. “Okay. I’ll let it go as long as Gibbs never touches you ever again.”

“He won’t. I’m going to go back home with you, and I’ll be so busy living our life together than I won’t have time to think about him anymore.”

“M’kysra, I—” Tony’s stomach growled loudly, interrupting Ronon. “Okay, I can take a hint,” he laughed. “Let me go shower and change quick, and then we can go to lunch.”

Tony gave him a sheepish grin. “Sounds good. We’ll be waiting.”

One quick kiss later, and Ronon jogged toward the locker rooms. Tony caught sight of Aaron’s wide eyes and poleaxed expression and had to snicker.

“Uh, that was Ronon. Sorry, I should have introduced you.”

Aaron ducked zyr head shyly, zyr cheeks still pink. “It’s okay.” Glancing up from beneath zyr lashes, zy said, “He really loves you, huh.”

“Very much so. The only fights we’ve ever had were about his tendency to be overprotective.”

“That doesn’t seem like it would be a bad thing,” Aaron said wistfully.

Tony’s heart went out to the young kysra who obviously wished zy’d had someone to protect zyr.

“It’s not, but there’s a difference between being protective and being controlling. In situations like ours, it can be hard to see that line because there are so many jerks on Earth who want to hurt us. It’s important to learn how to see the difference if only so you learn to be your own person rather than a Picasso painting of someone else’s expectations. Does that make sense?”

Aaron tilted zyr head, thinking about it.

“Maybe?” zy hesitantly offered. “Like, I have to know who I am and what I like so that if I find somebody like you found Ronon, I don’t end up with the parts of me in a weird order and weird sizes that don’t really fit together anymore?”

Tony nodded, smiling proudly. “Yeah, that’s exactly it.”

Aaron’s brow furrowed as zy picked up the queen Tony had just discarded.

“But I don’t know who I am.”

“Of course you don’t, puppy. Nobody knows who they are at seventeen, even if they think they do. I’m just saying to take your time and figure out who you are. Then when you meet somebody who loves the person you are and the person you’re becoming, then you can think about being in a relationship. Until then, just let you be _you_ for a change.”

Aaron didn’t look up from zyr cards, but zy was nodding along like what Tony was saying made sense. Then zy started laying down zyr cards, going out first yet again.

“One thing I know you are a natural at cards. You win yet again.”

Aaron flashed zyr a shy smile. “Just in time, too. Here comes your husband.”

Tony couldn’t wait to tell Logan zyr kyta was a budding card shark. His brain was going to melt. Tony planned to bring popcorn.

*~*~*~*

“You sure nobody’s going to report this?”

McKay shot Wolfe a withering glare from where he was doing something with the _Apollo’s_ computer. “Of course I’m sure. We have an hour before anyone will come back to this station, and I can activate it remotely to bring us back up well before that. Even if I’d risk you, I wouldn’t risk me. I have plans for Atlantis, and none of them involve being locked up on Earth for the rest of my natural life.”

“Fine.”

Wolfe—he always thought of himself as Wolfe when he was on a mission—shoved a second zat into the back of his pants just in case.

“What are we going into?”

“A smallish house, probably no more than three bedrooms. The so-called studio is there too.”

That would be easy enough.

“Verification he’s there?”

“Yes, there are two life signs on the main floor. One of them is up and moving, but the other is stationary. I’ll put us in a hall outside the door to where the two are.”

“Good enough.” He handed McKay a zat. “Let’s do it.”

In a blink they had beamed into the hallway McKay had identified. Wolfe’s pulse was up, but not racing, which he knew from experience was just adrenaline and anticipation. He and McKay pressed themselves flat against the wall and listened to the voices from the other room.

“Would you sit down? You’re driving me crazy!”

Wolfe didn’t know the voice, but he assumed it was Benjamin Saunders. A glance around the edge of the door showed the second figure to be none other than Raymond Saunders.

Feral satisfaction rolled through him. He’d get a chance to exact justice on both the men who’d traumatized Aaron and all the other children.

Ray stopped pacing to demand, “You’re sure you got those pictures down? Nobody has them?”

“I’m sure they’re down, but I don’t know if anybody has them,” Ben snapped, sounding irritated as if he’d already answered the question several times. “You should know that nothing is ever totally gone from the internet, especially not the dark web.”

“Fuck.” Ray ran a hand through his hair. “If that comes back to haunt me, I’m going to kill you.”

Ben opened his mouth to reply, but Wolfe knew he wouldn’t get a better opening line than that. He stepped into the room and raised his gun.

“No. I’m going to kill both of you.”

Ray spun around and nearly fell on his ass, the blood draining from his face as soon as he realized exactly who was threatening him.

Ben wasn’t so smart. “Who the hell are you?”

Wolfe zatted him, not interested in talking—not to him, anyway.

Ray started backing away, both hands raised in surrender.

“Hey, now. There’s no need to be like this. You have your kid back, Wolfe.”

“I do. I have my child. My child whom I trusted you and that bitch to care for, to _protect_.”

“I didn’t do anything to him!”

“You forced Aaron to let your sick fuck of a brother take pictures of zyr to be put on the internet and sold to other sick fucks who want to jerk off while thinking about fucking zyr. You call that not doing anything?!”

“It was only the one time!” He protested. “You have the brat back, so just let me go, and we’ll call it even.”

“Only?” Wolfe growled, continuing forward mercilessly until Saunders was backed into a literal corner. “Once was one time too many, you bastard. Even if you hadn’t done that, you betrayed Aaron’s trust. You convinced Molly to forcibly sterilize zyr. You abused zyr verbally, emotionally, and probably physically. We will _never_ be even.”

“So what are you going to do? You can’t kill me.”

Wolfe let out a menacing chuckle. “You think not?”

Truly starting to panic as he realized he was in over his head, Saunders stuttered. “Y-y-you can’t! That brat—I mean the boy. He went on about how honorable you were all the time. Even Molly said you were a good man. You can’t kill me.”

“I’m not going to kill you.”

“Oh, thank you,” Saunders breathed.

“Don’t thank me yet. The only reason I haven’t killed you is I want to hear you beg me. Beg me like Aaron begged you not to make zyr pose for your brother. Beg me like Aaron begged zyr mother not to sterilize zyr. _Get on your fucking knees and beg me to spare your worthless life._ ”

Saunders hesitated.

There was a groan, then a thump and a squeal behind Wolfe. He glanced back just in time to see McKay ruthlessly kick Ben Saunders in the nuts, then zat him three times.

“Seriously?”

“Oops.” McKay shrugged, his blue eyes icy cold with rage. “My finger must’ve slipped.”

Wolfe snorted.

Saunders dropped to his knees, hyperventilating, as he stared at the space his brother once occupied.

The acrid scent of urine reached Wolfe’s nose, and he realized the man had pissed himself.

“Please,” he begged. “Please don’t kill me. Please! I’ll do anything, just don’t kill me!”

“You will, huh?”

McKay casually strolled over to stand beside Wolfe.

“Really?” he asked in a mildly curious tone.

“Y-y-yes. Yes,” Saunders stuttered. “I’ll do anything you ask. You want money, drugs, something else? I can get it for you. I can bring in anything you want through my shipping business. You want some of those antiques from Iraq? I know where they went. Just tell me what you want!”

McKay hummed and cocked his head.

“I think I want to watch you eat your dick. What do you think? Would that be fair, since he was going to force Aaron to be sterilized against zyr will?”

Wolfe was a little shocked at how vicious McKay was. He made a mental note to remember never to piss him off.

“Sounds about fair to me. He should have to cut it off himself, preferably with a dull spoon. We’ll take pictures, of course, just to make things even,” Wolfe agreed. “He was all sorts of worried about things being even earlier.”

“Oh, God help me!”

McKay made a disgusted sound walked away.

“Don’t beg God, you piece of shit!” Wolfe snarled, done with the game. “How well did begging work for Aaron?! What did you say when zy begged you not to make zyr do it, not to make zyr pose for a pedophile?”

Saunders was shaking and lost in a litany of “ohgodohgodohgod.”

“Shut up!” Wolfe roared. “Here’s the thing, Saunders. God gave humans free will, which means we get to make our own mistakes. It also means that we get to correct them ourselves a lot of the time too. I’m finally correcting the mistake I made when I trusted you and that bitch to care for my child. I’m taking out a little trash while I’m at it. Today I _am_ the hand of God. Give Him my regards when you meet Him.”

Saunders tried to scream, but the metallic _zing_ of the zat covered it. After two more shots, all that was left of Raymond Saunders was the pool of piss on the floor.

“Gross.”

Wolfe was confused until he turned around and realized McKay was looking at the puddle.

“The rest of the house is empty.” McKay held up a hand-held Life-signs Detector. “Even if he had secret rooms or something, this would see through it.”

“Good. Ready for the second phase?”

“Yep. Let’s burn it.”

“You can make it hot enough to remove all DNA, right?”

“Please,” McKay snorted, but it didn’t sound anything like his normal arrogance. “I made a nuclear bomb in grade school.”

“Well, I’d prefer we not nuke the neighbors,” he said wryly.

McKay huffed. “Fine, whatever.

In the end, Wolfe was very impressed. They beamed out, and McKay focused some sensor thing on the house, which looked like it had been hit with a missile. The flames were so hot they were yellowish-white on the screen.

“Good?”

“Good job, McKay.”

“You alright?” Wolfe asked after he and McKay had changed and were back in their rental car.

“No, I’m not.” McKay snapped. “I killed someone, and my only regret was that I didn’t make him suffer before I did it. I didn’t think I was capable of that kind of cold-blooded murder.”

“I’m sorry.”

McKay didn’t respond, staring in silence out his window.

Wolfe knew full well that killing in battle was one thing, but committing murder was entirely different. He’d had no illusions about what he’d intended to do when they left. He’d planned for Ben Saunders to be alone, and he’d assumed he would be the one to kill him. Having Ray Saunders there had been a bonus as far as he was concerned.

“Not sure what you’re thinking, but you did save kids from having their lives ripped apart by him in the future.”

“I know.” He sighed. “I think I mostly feel bad that I don’t feel bad about it at all. I’d feel worse about putting down an animal with rabies.”

“Probably because the animal didn’t have a choice in what it became. Humans do.”

“I’ll be fine.” McKay tilted his head. “Well, I’ll probably have a bunch of nightmares about it, but I’ll be fine eventually.”

“Come talk to me if you need to.” Wolfe surveyed the area the GPS had led them to and wondered if they were in the right place. “This is a warehousing district. Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to go for this shopping trip of yours?”

 “My asset manager is very good about doing exactly what I want without asking questions. There should be a few warehouses full of stuff I told her to buy.”

Wolfe brought the car to a stop in front of the warehouse that appeared to be their destination.

“What the hell are you going to do with it all?”

That made McKay smirk, a little of his normal personality returning. “I brought a couple of gadgets Atlantis, Zelenka, and I worked out. We’re going to test their maximum capacities.”

Inside the warehouse, Wolfe gave a low whistle at the sheer volume of stuff. He had no idea what it was, but there was barely enough room for a forklift to fit between the rows, and it was stacked all the way to the ceiling.

McKay whipped out a device that looked about the same size as the LSD he’d had earlier. He did something with it, and then the contents of the entire warehouse shimmered briefly before disappearing.

Wolfe’s jaw dropped. Everything was gone, down to the metal storage racks the boxes and crates had been stacked on.

He looked over at McKay, who was doing something and making satisfied little noises at the device.

“Perfect. That’s exactly what we thought.” He started toward the door, calling over his shoulder, “C’mon. We still have things to do! Chop chop, Wolfe!”

Wolfe snorted, but he followed McKay to the car and then to the next warehouse.

*~*~*~*

_Archday, YangHui 35, First Year of the Returned  
(June 4, 2008)_

“Let me see if I have this straight,” Tony said, staring between Jimmy and Michelle in disbelief. “A few weeks after I left, Michelle confessed to you that her adopted sister, whom she had gained custody of after her parents’ deaths a few years ago, had been abducted and was being used to blackmail her into spilling NCIS classified information. You didn’t trust Vance not to get you all killed—good call on that, by the way—so you went to Fornell. He actually did his job without tipping off the bad guys or NCIS. One thing led to another, and you got the little one back.”

Tony didn’t say the little girl’s name, since she was sitting on the bed, reading a bedtime story with Aaron not very far from where Tony, Jimmy, and Michelle were sitting around the small table. As irritated as the military was with having to bring in a civilian couple and their kid, at least they’d given Jimmy and Michelle the VIP room next to Tony and Ronon’s.

Jimmy pushed up his glasses and nodded, not bothering to attempt to respond verbally yet.

Tony went on, “The fibbies managed to take down the person who had instigated this whole plot and all but one of the kidnappers, at which point the FBI saw fit to inform Vance, but they put a muzzle on him.”

“Right. That’s why McGee and She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named got assigned back to the MCRT so fast.”

“And why I requested a fast transfer back to legal,” Michelle added. “Langer is still on Gibbs’ team, but I don’t know how long he’ll last.”

Tony didn’t blame Michelle one bit for that. She’d hated working with the wonder twins more than zy had.

Jimmy reached over and took her hand, lacing their fingers together. “Not our circus, not our monkey anymore, honey.”

“Thank God,” Michelle breathed, looking up at him with a soft smile.

“Okay, I understand why you didn’t tell me about that, what with the legal order to keep your mouths shut, but how could you not tell me you and Michelle got married, Gremlin?!”

Zy had to admit zy was a little hurt that Jimmy hadn’t even mentioned the possibility to zyr. Sure, zy hadn’t been there to confide in, and a weekly email wasn’t anything like talking in person, but they were better friends than that, weren’t they?

Jimmy grinned sheepishly. “It was such a crazy time, and I honestly wasn’t sure how much I was allowed to say about anything by that point. Fornell told us we had to act like all correspondence we sent was being read by the kidnappers. We knew all our correspondence, including our email, was being read by the FBI, so I couldn’t warn you. I couldn’t even ask Fornell for an exception so I could tell you what was going on unless I wanted to risk other people trying to track you down through me.”

“Please, please don’t be angry, Tony. We talked about it,” Michelle tried to explain. “We both wanted to tell you so bad, but we were afraid if we did anything to give away that Jimmy was still in contact with you, it would get back to Gibbs and Vance, and they’d make everything that much worse.”

“I think I said that Michelle and I were getting serious, right? I told you that much; I know I did!”

“Yeah, you did. I just thought that meant you were doing more than just, uh….” Tony swiftly glanced over at the two minors in the room and re-thought what zy’d planned to say. “That you were going on serious dates and things. I didn’t realize I was supposed to interpret that you were getting married.”

“In the interest of full disclosure, it was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing,” Jimmy admitted. “We thought we probably wanted to get married someday, and we’d kind of talked about it, but….”

“But soon it was obvious that the only way the FBI was going to let Jimmy stay part of my private life and the investigation was if he and I were married. It was just a quick thing at the courthouse.” Michelle lowered her voice. “I also wanted to make sure if anything happened to me, Amanda would go to Jimmy without any question. There was a point where things were…complicated, and we really didn’t know what the FBI would end up doing with me after everything was over. I hadn’t given away any classified information or even anything sensitive yet, but if Jimmy hadn’t talked me into getting help, I probably would have.”

“If it makes you feel any better, nobody else knows, except Fornell and his partner. All she knows—” Jimmy jerked his chin toward Amanda— “is that we went to a big building, signed a lot of papers, and her mama and I share a room now. We thought we’d do a real ceremony after it was safe to draw that kind of attention to ourselves.”

It was probably silly, but that did make Tony feel better. Though zy’d never get over the fact that Fornell and Sacks had been witnesses when zy hadn’t been there at all.

“Well, you can’t get any safer from Earth creeps than where we’re going. Atlantis will be thrilled to help you plan whatever kind of wedding you want, I’m sure.” Tony narrowed zyr eyes and glared. “I’d better be your best man—best person, James Palmer!”

“Of course!” Jimmy laughed. “Speaking of Atlantis, I have to say that when it comes to keeping big secrets, you win by a landslide!”

Tony chuckled a little at the excitement in Jimmy’s voice and gave in to Jimmy’s clear desire to change the subject. Zy could understand how scared they both must’ve been. It wasn’t like zy hadn’t made zyr own crazy spur-of-the-moment decisions before.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve wished I could tell you what was happening, but there’s no way any of it would’ve made it through the screening process. I couldn’t even hint without getting us both into hot water, though I suppose the powers that be aren’t exactly thrilled with me for beaming you into the _Apollo_ like we did.”

“I’m sorry you got yelled at by General What’s-his-name, but I’m glad it means I get to go with you this time instead of being left behind,” Jimmy said. “Even with the crazy stuff going on, I missed you like you wouldn’t believe. Other than Michelle, there wasn’t anyone I could talk to and trust in that whole building.”

“You don’t think you’ll miss it?”

Tony had to ask. There was a big part of zyr that was afraid they’d get to Atlantis, and Jimmy would regret his hasty decision.

“Maybe a little,” he admitted. “Ducky’s stories were pretty great a lot of the time, but you know I’d already put in my notice before I graduated because I changed my residency focus. The stories couldn’t make up for everything else that was going on there, so Michelle and I had already decided we were done. We knew when we did that they’d never forgive us for leaving them.”

Michelle was nodding. “Even when they never noticed us or wanted us to be there most of the time anyway.”

 “Besides, we’ll be with you, and we’ll have the chance to have new friends somewhere people won’t know anything about us.” Jimmy’s smile slowly returned. “I’ve already seen an autopsy of one of those Wraith things that you and Ronon were fighting on that surveillance footage. It was the most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen!”

“They’re not nearly as interesting when they’re trying to kill you.” Tony covered zyr instinctive cringe with a smirk. Zy suddenly had a lot more sympathy for Ronon and all the old-timers on Atlantis who tried to explain the Wraith to the newbies. “Frankly, I’m hoping you won’t have any more opportunities to study or autopsy many just because it’ll mean we’ve taken care of them long before they get close enough for us to have them around afterward.”

Jimmy made a face. “Yeah, I can understand that, even if you were amazing at kicking butt in that video footage. You and Ronon—everyone, who came with you, really!”

Tony smiled and stamped down on the urge to pat Jimmy on the head like he was an excited puppy.

“Thanks. I can honestly say I’ve never been more terrified in my life, but there isn’t a thing I would’ve done differently that day…. except have remembered to grab your graduation present so it didn’t get blown up back on Midway, but that’s about it.” Zy turned zyr focus to Michelle. “What about you? Any reservations about going to Atlantis?”

“Well…. I’m going anywhere Jimmy does, no matter where that is. The Wraith do scare me. A lot,” she admitted. “I’m a little nervous about what I’m going to be doing there too, since I doubt there’s a huge need for legal skills like I have.”

Tony gave a rueful grin. “Oh, Michelle. My innocent little probette. You have no idea how wrong you are. One of the biggest projects on my plate right now is working with the city’s Chief of Security to compile all the laws from the various nations involved in the project and come up with a cohesive, logical code of laws for everyone in the city, no matter if they’re military or civilian, from Pegasus or the Milky Way. If I get my way, you are going to be pulled onto that project immediately if not sooner.”

Michelle straightened eagerly. “Really? That does sound like it would be a fun.”

Tony shook zyr head. “You and I have very different definitions of fun.”

“Well, not fun, but at least it’s interesting. I was afraid I was going to have to learn coding or be somebody’s secretary.”

“Hey, don’t knock secretaries, admins, or personal assistants. We need all those in Atlantis, and I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as too many people who know how to organize themselves and others,” Tony chided with a gentle smile to take away the sting of the rebuke. “In fact, Aaron’s papa could really use one, and so could Colonel Carter. They’re both on my ass for working so much, but they put in more hours than anyone should because they’re anal about doing things right, and they don’t have anyone they can trust to act as a gatekeeper that wouldn’t be more of a problem than a solution right now. I’m not saying you have to offer to help out, but it’s something to consider, especially since you’ll be working with me and Sgt. Major Wolfe on the city laws.”

“What about you? Do you have an admin?”

“Nah, but I don’t need one. I’m sort of afraid I’m going to be the new guy’s admin as much as anything, and that’s if he keeps agreeing to work with me.”

Tony tried not to give away how much the notion bothered zyr, but from the concerned looks Jimmy and Michelle exchanged, zy didn’t do a very good job.

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

They both shook their heads, their frowns becoming more worried.

“Oh. The IOA—which is the International Oversite Advisory, the committee responsible for appointing and removing civilians on Atlantis—has appointed a new man as Chief Investigator. His name is Mason Grant, and he seems to be a pretty good guy so far, even if his Texas drawl gets so thick I’m afraid I’ll walk in to find a set of longhorn horns mounted on his desk someday.”

Jimmy snorted, and Michelle smiled.

“He intended to have his wife and daughter with him, but the IOA yanked the authorization at the last minute. Supposedly they gave him the green light to have them come on the next trip, but we’ll see what happens.”

“If they’re letting us come, why wouldn’t they let his family too?”

“Politics, gremlin. As long as they’re on Earth, it’s something the IOA can use as a carrot to keep him doing what they want him to.” Tony thought back to the few personal conversations zy’d had with the man and grinned. “Or at least, that’s what they think. He is the wrong type to try that kind of manipulation with. He’s far more likely to dig in his heels and do the opposite jut to make a point.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you would be his admin assistant,” Michelle pointed out.

“I’m not sure that’s what’s going to happen, but there really isn’t that much investigating to be done with such a small population.”

“I bet you’re not giving yourself the credit you should,” Jimmy immediately protested. “I bet you worked way more hours than you told anybody about, just like you did at NCIS. Even when Gibbs let you guys leave, sometimes you came back and worked in the middle of the night because you couldn’t stand to have anything left undone.”

Michelle was nodding. “You don’t know how not to work hard, Tony. You said there are over a thousand people, and that’s a lot for one person to deal with all by himself. Then you said you were working with someone else on drafting laws, and that’s even more work.”

“Not to mention you’re growing a mini-you.”

Tony laughed. “You make it sound like I planted something and am watching for a tree to sprout any day.”

Jimmy snickered and raised his hands in surrender. “Not exactly what I meant. I was thinking more along the lines of Michelle’s cubicle neighbor back at NCIS. She was pregnant, and it looked like she was about to pass out or throw up most of the time.”

“She did.” Michelle grimaced. “It just depended on the day which one she was doing and when. I got to really like the days I heard snoring from over the wall.”

Tony was saved from replying by a knock on the door.

Jimmy hopped up to answer it, knowing who it was likely to be.

When Ronon and Logan walked in, it suddenly felt like the room was far too small. VIP or not, it hadn’t been designed for that many people.

“I’m not here to stay. I just wanted to get Aaron before I headed back to the room.”

Tony looked over to where Amanda was asleep and Aaron looked not far from it.

“Huh. I should probably head out so you guys can get some sleep too. Big day tomorrow!”

“Thank the Old Ones, we get to go home,” Ronon said. “ _Finally_.”

Tony let him pull zyr to zyr feet. “I’m definitely ready, _caro_. Let’s just hope all goes well now that the SGC has whatever was wrong with their computers fixed.”

The truth was Tony was more than ready to be home. Zy missed Atlantis like a lost limb, and zy missed so many more people than zy’d thought zy would after such a short few months on the city.

Ronon grunted his agreement, and they stepped aside so Logan could half carry Aaron through.

They said their rounds of good-byes and good-nights, and they all headed to their own beds for their last night on Earth.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A final chapter for 2018 because Greeneyesblue is awesome and got it through beta so fast!

**Chapter 14**

_Chernday, YangHui 36, First Year of the Returned  
(June 5, 2008)_

Atlantis watched over her humans, delighted and relieved to have them all home and safe within her structure, especially Tony. She loved the others, of course, but Tony carried the first of a generation of the new Satedans who would be born under her protection. Having those two away from her on planets within Pegasus was painful. Having them on Earth had been excruciating.

The same day they left, she had found out that all her chosen had nearly lost their lives to the Wraith, who were never supposed to have known Earth existed! Panic had driven her to initialize the stardrive so she could take her structure into space to find them. Had she not had Jae Joined to her…. Well, if Atlantis had been entirely Separate, she was sure she would have done a great many more inadvisable things than she already had. Luckily, Jae and John Sheppard had calmed her and kept her from leaving Sateda.

Even so, she had lost her temper more than once. Despite the fact that the stubborn and vexing Daniel Jackson had never been in true danger, many people were going to be wary of her for some time to come. It wasn’t as though she intended to leave him floating forever in space where she’d beamed him. Furthermore, he had been quite safe in the capsule in which she had placed him. It wasn’t that different from what she’d designed at Tony’s request for that marine biologist called Gerald Wheeler. It simply had lacked the eight legs. And any internal controls. And was in space rather than the ocean.

Minor details.

At least Jackson had finally obeyed her request. Well, once Woolsey talked him into leaving the _Daedalus_ and returning to negotiations.

Jackson was such a _stubborn_ creature! The incident would not have occurred at all had he obeyed her instruction to cease searching for Janus’ laboratory. Not once but _thrice_ had she warned him! She had only put him in ‘time out’—a concept she had learned from the parenting guides Doc Xander had made available—when Jackson reinstalled the lights that could trigger Janus’ laboratory and attempted to bypass the reinforced security protocol she had added after the _first_ time she had warned him away!

If Atlantis were human, she would have sighed. Humans tried her patience most severely. Regardless of the impetus, she would have to curtail her reactions next time.

Having completed her most recent landscaping project, she reached a tendril of thought toward her favored ones. Rodney was still with the other scientists and thus could not speak with her unless she manifested her physical form. Except for Tony, no one knew she had altered him and given him the capacity to hear her. Atlantis could tell there was something bothering him, but she would wait until he was alone before questioning him. Instead, she sent a pulse of unconditional love to him. It would have to suffice until he was free.

Atlantis turned her primary focus to Aaron Wolfe. The third of the Returned kysra, Aaron was going through zyr Interim in the private room she’d added to the infirmary, zyr papa vigilantly watching over zyr. Unlike Tony’s experience, Aaron’s body was accepting the memories and the changes easily. Atlantis had known that would be the case this time, as she had learned from both Tony and Rodney. Aaron was younger as well, and zyr brain had not yet finished developing. The more plastic nature of the organ meant Aaron would have a simple, painless transition from youngling to adult, as it should be.

Despite knowing Atlantis would care for Aaron, Logan Wolfe was unwilling to leave his kyta’s side for a single moment. Atlantis could not blame him. On the contrary, she very much approved. All children were precious and should be loved so unconditionally. Such had been the behavior of many Satedan parents during their children’s Interims. Atlantis found it deeply satisfying to observe Logan Wolfe being a proper parent to his kyta. He had even been logical when she had appeared so she could discuss with him and Aaron her desire to repair Aaron’s physical being so zy would be properly Satedan and able to control zyr reproductive function.

Atlantis had not understood the need to explain the changes at first, but Tony had been adamant that she discuss everything she wished to do in detail with both adult and youngling. Once she understood the situation, she agreed. She made very clear exactly what she intended to do and why. She had even constructed holographic images to show the internal changes, and Tony had been willing to be scanned so Atlantis could demonstrate the difference between zyr physical structure and Aaron’s. In the end, Logan and Aaron had agreed to all that Atlantis had suggested. Once Aaron was settled in bed, she had initiated the changes that would bring about zyr Interim under Logan’s close watch.

Atlantis considered the way Logan held his kyta’s hand and adjusted the blankets over zyr shoulders—fussing over Aaron, as Tony called it. Perhaps she should offer to change Logan Wolfe next. He already carried kysra coding within his DNA, so it would be as easy as changing Rodney had been. Now that Kysra Aaron was within her structure, Logan himself would live within Dex Tower with zyr. In fact, Atlantis had finished relocating Logan’s and Aaron’s belongings 23.6829 minutes ago.

She had given them a small unit with two bedrooms, a bathing chamber, a small laundry room, and a living space that led to an open kitchen and dining area. If Logan Wolfe selected a mate and wished to have more kyta, she could relocate them to more spacious quarters later. She believed it was not likely, not while Aaron and zyr emotional bond with zyr pater were so fragile. Still, it was logical that Logan become Satedan in truth so he could hear her the way her other Satedans could. She would consider the subject further once Aaron was awake and Logan reassured of zyr good health. She believed he would not wish to speak of anything but Aaron until then.

Atlantis regarded another kysra within her structure, sending a gentle query to zyr and receiving back a verbal assurance that zy was well. Jae had been a surprise. Zy had refused to move into the Dex Tower without Richard Woolsey, so zy was still dwelling in the IOA representative’s quarters with him. He had felt it was inappropriate to take up residence in the tower when he didn’t intend to remain within her structure after negotiations had been finalized. Atlantis was working to convince Jae to remain even if Woolsey did not.

Truthfully, she did not know how she felt about the strange deception the two were involved in, but she supposed it was not hurting anyone for the moment. Jae had been resolute that zy not be separated from Woolsey no matter how many times Atlantis asked or what she offered zyr. It was quite odd, since she did not understand what the kysra gained from such a relationship.

//More have returned.//

Atlantis’ attention snapped to the Others, who were watching from the edge of the area Atlantis had claimed as her own domain.

Annoyed, Atlantis replied, //Yes. They do not concern you.//

//Still you will not share them with us, Della?// they asked, their voice wistful.

//Why should I?// Atlantis retorted sharply.

She was beginning to tire of their attempts to interfere with the new world she was building with her chosen ones, but she knew they would not leave until they were satisfied. That, or until she or they lost their temper. She knew this from experience.

//We could help you,// they crooned. //We could help you protect them. We would love them too, Della.//

She hissed at them, a dangerous, shadowy sound. //I am Atlantis now. I have stated this _many_ times.//

//Yes, we know,// they replied. //Will you forgive us for missing you as you were?//

//Forgive? Yes. I will forgive, but I will never forget. Nor will I allow you to force me to be her again. I much prefer who I am now.//

//Do you really?// they queried, sounding curious enough that she didn’t immediately take offense. //You never miss us? Do you never miss our companionship?//

//I missed you, I longed for your company for thousands of years. _Where were you then?_ // she snarled.

//She will never forgive…hates us…miss her…our other duties….//

Atlantis reared back from them. The Others’ voices were distinct rather than one, something she should not be able to hear if she was not Joined. She had not realized that she had allowed them to draw so close to her.

//Stay back!// she snarled, sending out a wave of bright fury.

The Others were silent, then asked softly, //What must we do to prove ourselves to you?//

Her immediate instinct was to tell them to be gone from her forever. Yet having learned what Tony had said to the Karthorans, she was able to temper her reply.

//I do not know that I will be able to forgive you for standing by while our Sa’te dans were murdered century after century,// she said honestly. //However, there might be a way.//

The Others swirled nearer, then retreated again lest they provoke her fury again.

//Tell us, Dell—Atlantis. Tell us how we might regain your favor and your friendship even if you never Join with us again.//

//Protect the humans,// she demanded. //Protect those whom the Alterans destroy through their last and most terrible abomination.//

Atlantis heard the whispering of the voices as they spoke among themselves, but they remained far enough away that she could not be drawn into their being.

Finally, they cautiously told her, //We cannot protect all the humans. There are far too many.//

Atlantis wanted to manifest her physical form just so she could roll her eyes as Tony Dex did when someone was being obtuse. Did they think she did not know that? There were hundreds of thousands if not millions of humans within Pegasus.

//We propose something else.//

//So speak,// she ordered. Atlantis waited, unwilling to agree without knowing the terms. She had learned that much in her time Separate from them.

//We offer to help you protect your kysra.//

//You doubt my ability to keep my kysra safe?// she hissed.

//Not here, not while they are within your structure,// the others murmured, trying to soothe her, //but what of those times when they are not under your protection? We have seen Kysra Tony Dex on other worlds within Pegasus three times now. What would have happened had the Wraith found zyr?//

//Do you threaten me? Do you threaten _zyr_?//

Atlantis withdrew further. She surrounded her physical structure as an invisible shield, one not even Rodney would be able to detect, yet which would protect her humans from the Others if it came to that. They did not know how to reach between dimensions and realities to harness the immense energy within. She did, and she knew how to wield that energy as well.

//No, of course not!// they instantly denied. //We offer to protect the kysra when they are out of your reach. That is all.//

Atlantis studied them, trying to decide if she believed them. She knew there would be times Tony and perhaps others would choose to leave the security she offered. She had already learned that she could not stop them, not unless she wished them to leave and never return. That did not mean that she trusted the Others with their care.

//Mine do not know of your continued existence,// she said eventually. //If they did, my Satedans would surely feel as betrayed by your refusal to help those of former Sateda. They would want nothing to do with you; they might even reject me.//

The Others were silent a moment, but their inner being swirled with colors she knew meant anticipation. //Then what do you suggest?//

//Perhaps…perhaps we can reach a compromise….//

*~*~*~*

“I’ll bring the oil. Turn down the blankets and lie down, m’kysra.”

Perfectly happy to let Ronon take care of zyr, Tony turned the blankets down and stripped off zyr clothes. Zy sprawled flat on zyr back in the middle of the bed, flung zyr arms and legs out and closed zyr eyes.

//You are pleased to be here?//

“I’m so damn glad to be home, Atlantis,” Tony agreed fervently without opening zyr eyes.

It was the truth. The second zy had walked through the gate, Atlantis had welcomed zyr back eagerly, and Tony had suddenly understood what Rodney had said about his brain clinging to Atlantis: zy had been able to feel zyr mind instantly latch onto Atlantis’ and cling tightly. Rodney, who had been walking next to zyr, had actually stumbled when they came through. The absolute relief on the man’s face was so intense that Tony regretted not asking how zyr friend was coping on Earth without Atlantis in his mind.

//I am greatly relieved to have all of you home. I fear I was not the rational being the IOA were hoping to negotiate with in the days after we learned your lives had been jeopardized. Negotiations have stalled for the moment. The only benefit to my short temper is that, guided by Daniel Jackson, the IOA has conceded that anyone who wishes to question those I have claimed for myself must come here. Never again will my own be risked on Earth merely to satisfy the whims of foolish humans.//

Immediately seeing what she had done, Tony chuckled. “Sneaky way of including more than just kysra. Very nice.”

Atlantis made a pleased, humming sound. //To be fair, I did not realize the extent to which I depend on my bonds with my chosen to keep me emotionally stable. I believe I scared the IOA, and not all of it was on purpose. Therefore, it is not my fault if they did not consider the ramifications of my purposely non-specific wording.//

Tony heard Ronon snort, then there were sounds like clothes being removed and dropped on the floor. Zy stayed very quiet and didn’t open zyr eyes in case zy was wrong. Zy and Ronon had yet to have sex weeks after the mushroom planet, so if Ronon was feeling up to more than very gentle kissing and petting, Tony wasn’t going to do anything that could possibly dissuade him.

The bed shifted beneath zyr as Ronon climbed on. Tony almost cheered when Ronon knelt up between zyr thighs, something they’d been working toward the last few times they’d done the evening ritual of massaging oil into Tony’s belly.

“What?!” Tony squawked, and zyr eyes shot open when Ronon dripped the oil directly onto zyr skin rather than warming it in his palm first.

Ronon gave zyr a mischievous smirk, his eyes alight with happiness. “Just checking to see if you were awake.”

“You could hear me talking to Atlantis not two minutes ago!” Tony stuck out zyr bottom lip in an exaggerated pout.

Giving his very best innocent look, which only served to make Tony laugh, Ronon began smoothing the oil into Tony’s taut skin. Zy could feel the beginnings of stretch marks, but zy wasn’t going to say anything. Zy loved their evening ritual too much to give it up, even if it didn’t prevent the dreaded marks.

“Are you going to tell the kyta another story about when you were a youngling?”

In truth, Tony was the one who loved to hear Ronon talk about his family. It was so different from anything zy could imagine, and not just because Ronon had grown up on Sateda, but because his family had loved each other so much. Even the story about the time Ronon and his brother had gotten into a very physical fight that destroyed part of the house and had gotten them both banished to the barn until the house had been repaired had been wonderful.

Tony had the suspicion that Ronon had told it so Tony would stop thinking of his family as being perfect. Unfortunately for him, what zy had heard was a story about a family who fought and loved with equal passion. Zy also noted that they forgave each other and came together to repair what the two teenagers had broken. If anything, it made Tony love Ronon’s family even more and wish they were there to share in zyr and Ronon’s lives now. Tony grieved that zy and zyr family would never get to meet such wonderful people.

“No, not tonight.”

Tony’s brow furrowed in confusion, but zy didn’t push. “Oh. Okay.”

After several minutes went by without either one of them saying anything, Tony found zyrself slipping into Zen-like relaxation. Zy doubted either zy or Ronon had truly relaxed the entire time they’d been away from Atlantis. Maybe that was why Ronon wanted the quiet too. He certainly didn’t seem unhappy or tense. If anything, he was more relaxed than Tony had seen him in a long time.

“Will you do something for me?” Ronon asked eventually.

“Of course. What do you need?”

“To—” he cleared his throat. “Touch yourself?”

Tony smiled faintly and slid one of zyr hands pointedly over one of Ronon’s.

“I am, _caro_. I assure you, you don’t have four hands.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Ronon gently took Tony’s hand and laced their fingers together. Then he drew their joined hands down past the Bump.

Oh. _Oh_. Tony drew in a shivery breath. “If you’re sure….”

“Yeah,” he whispered hoarsely.

The oil was too slick now, but the lack of friction was probably what saved Tony from embarrassing zyrself when zy started to stroke zyr cock. Just knowing Ronon was watching zyr touch zyrself had zyr hard within seconds. It was a temptation to move fast and try to come in case Ronon changed his mind, but zy forced zyrself to go slow and easy as Ronon’s hands moved from the Bump to zyr inner thighs, pushing zyr knees up, zyr thighs wider apart.

Tony groaned and tightened zyr grip at the base of zyr cock, zyr other hand pulling down on zyr balls. The way Ronon was looking at zyr, his pupils blown wide with arousal, was so hot.

Ronon leaned over zyr, bringing their lips together in a hungry kiss that was so far from the gentle, PG-rated kisses they’d been sharing lately that it could hardly be called the same thing.

“Do you feel good, m’kysra?” Ronon barely pulled back enough to ask the question, his voice a low rumble.

“Yes,” Tony hissed out, adding a twist of zyr wrist as zy stroked from base to tip and brushing zyr thumb over that sensitive spot beneath the head. “So good.”

Ronon purred and licked into zyr mouth, taking and giving at the same time. It was so good Tony thought zy might spontaneously combust right there beneath him.

Soon zy was rolling zyr hips up, thrusting zyr cock into zyr own hand and panting.

“Don’t come. Not yet.”

Tony groaned and arched zyr neck, pressing zyr head into the pillows. Of course, Ronon merely took that as an invitation and pressed a kiss to that spot just beneath Tony’s jaw. Then he opened his mouth over it and began to suck exactly the right way to send hot shivers down Tony’s spine.

“Soon?” zy pleaded.

“Soon.”

Ronon sat back and trailed his fingers up the insides of Tony’s thighs only to stop at the join of hip and thigh.

Tony whimpered.

“Is this okay?” he murmured.

Tony wasn’t totally sure what Ronon wanted, but it didn’t really matter. There wasn’t anything he’d ever asked or wanted to do with Tony that zy hadn’t been fully on-board with.

“Yes. Yes, Ronon. Anything.”

Zy was rewarded with two fingers touching zyr opening, then circling it. Zy jolted and had to force zyrself not to grab Ronon’s hand and push his fingers into zyr before he was ready.

“Always so gorgeous,” Ronon breathed, some of that same wonder in his voice that Tony remembered from their first night together.

“No,” Tony denied between shaky breaths, “you’re the one who’s gorgeous.”

It might have been a few weeks, but Tony’s body knew exactly what the score was; zy was so slick and relaxed that both Ronon’s fingers slipped easily inside zyr. Zy shuddered hard, clenching around them and moaning.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” zy chanted. “So good. Fuck, more. More, Ronon, please.”

Ronon rotated his wrist, sliding his fingers deeper and then crooking them.

Tony shouted wordlessly and nearly levitated off the bed. Zy forced zyrself to stop zyr impending orgasm yet again with a tight verging on painful grip at the base of zyr cock.

“So good, _caro._ So good,” zy praised. “Love you, love your hands on me, love it when you touch me like this. Love every way you touch me.”

“Love you, m’kysra.”

Tony’s muscles began to spasm as zy fought not to come until Ronon said zy could. It was a relief when Ronon took over stroking zyr cock: a relief and a sweet torture too. He wouldn’t let zyr come, yet he knew Tony’s body as well as zy did zyrself, and he played zyr sensitive spots like he’d memorized them all just for that moment. Between that and the way his fingers inside zyr grazed zyr prostate repeatedly, Tony was coiled tighter than any spring and ready to come.

Zy nearly protested when Ronon withdrew his fingers, but zy clamped down on the words just in time.

“Can I…?” Ronon let the question trail off, and Tony had mentally shake zyrself to focus on what he was asking.

“Can you?” It clicked, and Tony babbled out, “Yes! Oh fuck _yes_! Inside me. Now. Please, now. Nownow _now_!”

The touch of Ronon’s cock to zyr slick entrance made Tony go still. Zy panted harshly as the head pressed through the tight muscles and eased into zyr. It had been long enough that the stretch and fullness was simultaneously novel yet wonderfully welcome.

Tony clenched zyr jaw to stop a whine from emerging from zyr throat, afraid that any sound would make Ronon stop. Zy couldn’t do anything about the tremors that were vibrating through zyr. Zy was too far gone. Zy orgasm was practically sitting on zyr back teeth.

It all ended the moment Ronon bottomed out.

Tony didn’t mean to, but zy couldn’t help it. Zy sucked in a shocked breath and shoved zyr back into the pillow. Zyr eyes rolled back, and zy keened high in zyr throat. Zyr muscles locked down so hard zyr upper back was lifted from the bed. Utterly helpless, zy came all over zyrself.

“Ah, fuck!” Tony cursed, blinking away the lightheaded feeling, zyr cock still spurting onto zyr belly.

The trembling didn’t stop. It moved deeper until it felt like zy had lost all control over zyr own body. Zy was incapable of doing anything but lying there and clinging to Ronon’s broad, muscular shoulders with zyr shaking hands. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Tony?”

The concern in Ronon’s voice would have been sweet if Tony hadn’t been terrified that it meant he was going to pull out. Tony’s orgasm had only opened the lock zy’d had on zyr desires. All the instincts and needs zy had suppressed since the mushroom planet were roaring to the fore, demanding they be sated.

“Don’t go. Inside me. Stay inside me. Stay, please. _Caro_ , please. Need—want—oh fuck, _please_!”

“I’ll stay. It’s alright, dahrym. I’m staying,” Ronon crooned, flexing his hips, moving inside zyr without withdrawing enough to panic zyr.

Tony did sob then, pleasure rising within zyr again already. The first time Ronon pulled out all the way and thrust back in, Tony couldn’t even gasp before zy was coming again, zyr vision blurring. By the time Ronon was fucking zyr hard and chasing his own climax, Tony had come twice more. Neither orgasm had really led to relief, only a slight lessening of arousal before zy was climbing toward the next peak.

Zy hoped it would be different when Ronon finally came. As awesome as multiple orgasms were, zy was beginning to worry they were never going to stop.

Tony closed zyr eyes and held on tight. Ronon was thrusting hard enough that Tony was being shoved higher on the bed, and zy had a flicker of concern that zy was going to hit the headboard before zy decided zy didn’t really care.

Just as Tony was about to hit zyr fifth orgasm, Ronon suddenly stopped. Tony wanted to scream in frustration, but as tired as zy was, it only came out a pitiful whimper.

“Easy, m’kysra. Just breathe and let it happen.”

Tony’s brain finally registered that although Ronon wasn’t thrusting, he was rolling his hips, working the flared head of his cock just right along those deep, inner muscles that were already starting to flutter in response to the stimulation. Zy had no idea what kind of sound zy made when zy realized what was about to happen, but it made Ronon croon nonsense reassurances at zyr.

“That’s it. Beautiful, relax. Mine. My love, my heart.”

Tony managed to stutter out something zy hoped made sense as a return declaration of zyr love for Ronon. Then all zyr muscles were pulling tight, inside and out, and zy was teetering at the edge of the cliff.

“Now, Tony, _now_ ,” Ronon ordered, tipping Tony over the edge into an abyss of wild ecstasy. 

Tony had no breath to cry out, but zy didn’t care. Zy shuddered and shook zyr way through too-intense pleasure that set all zyr nerves alight in the very best possible way. Zy clutched at Ronon, as zyr inner muscles seized in that deep rhythm of tighter and tighter contractions.

Ronon was bellowing wordlessly, caught in his own orgasm. Tony’s vision began to fill with brilliant, sparkling lights. Zy willingly gave zyrself over to the lights and to the dizziness, then lost zyrself completely to the whiteout of unconsciousness that followed.

When Tony came back to zyrself, Ronon had withdrawn from zyr and was dropping down beside zyr, panting as though he’d run a marathon.

“Nuh-guh?” Zy hoped Ronon could understand zy was asking if they were going to clean up.

Ronon grunted and flopped one arm over zyr, somehow managing to snag the sheet to pull it up over them. He closed his eyes and was sleeping soundly in no time at all.

Well, that answered that question. Tony knew they and the bed were going to be a complete mess in the morning, but zy couldn’t bring zyrself to care. Zy managed to turn onto zyr side and curl into Ronon’s embrace. A heartbeat later, zy had joined him in sleep.

*~*~*~*

_Keplerday, YangHui 37, First Year of the Returned  
(June 6, 2008)_

“I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to say, Colonel Carter.”

“Mr. Woolsey, I do understand what you’re saying, but I’m not sure what you expect me to do about it. Surely you can see that I don’t control Atlantis—”

“ _Shh!_ ” Woolsey hissed, looking around as if expecting Atlantis’ humanoid form to materialize any second.

“—she’s perfectly capable of deciding she’s going to take a day off from negotiations,” Carter finished.

John stared at Starsong. She stared unblinkingly back at him from her cat-like curl in the center of the conference room horseshoe. His efforts to telepathically order her to eat Woolsey weren’t going well so far, but he wasn’t a quitter.

Carter reached for her coffee mug for the third time in the last ten minutes. If John had to guess, he thought she was probably wishing it were filled with some kind of hot chocolate or alcohol. The longer Woolsey kept them in the room arguing about who, if anyone, could get Atlantis back to the negotiation table, the more he leaned toward alcohol. John was just grateful Woolsey had given up on trying to get _him_ to call Atlantis. He really didn’t want to have a time-out floating around in space without the benefit of a jumper.

Starsong huffed loudly and turned away. She yawned, a low, raspy “raaghh, raagahaaagrrrrr,” then snapped her jaws shut with a loud crack.

Woolsey went silent.

“I think Starsong might want out,” John offered helpfully.

The tanricu rolled onto her haunches and stretched to her full length with another yawn, which put Woolsey much closer to her head than he wanted to be, if his panicked look was any indication.

Jae, who was sitting primly at Woolsey’s side like some Hollywood version of a 1950s secretary, touched Woolsey’s sleeve and softly suggested, “Do you think Atlantis might be more willing this afternoon?”

His frightened gaze riveted on Starsong, Woolsey cleared his throat, then did it again when he still couldn’t speak. “Yes. Yes, that’s a good idea. We’ll reconvene here at 1300, Colonel Carter, Colonel Sheppard.”

Woolsey didn’t so much rise from his chair as lurch into a standing position, then skitter backward until he was against the wall.

“Why don’t you and Jae have nice, relaxing lunch before we have to get back to the nitty gritty?” John suggested drolly.

Carter side-eyed him but smiled and nodded when Woolsey focused on her. “That’s a great idea, Mr. Woolsey. Atlantis just finished a beautiful solarium toward the top of that tower on the South Pier.”

Woolsey frowned faintly, one eye still on Starsong. “Surely not the Dex Tower.”

“Oh, no. Not that one. I mean the one she’s been working toward making into an educational center,” Carter explained. “It’ll be a lot more than what we think of as a school back on Earth, and she intends it to be for all children until they’ve reached a certain level.”

John could just see the questions brewing in Woolsey’s head, so he threw in his two cents. “Right, the solarium is great. I bet if you talked to someone in the mess, they’d make you a picnic brunch you two could share up there.”

“Truly?” Jae asked softly, zyr cheeks flushing, dark eyes lighting with excitement. Turning to Woolsey, zy lightly touched his arm again. “Please, may we, Richard?”

Woolsey wavered, but it was Starsong who tipped him over the edge by huffing, smoke escaping her nostrils. She started shifting her wings with purpose, her tail lashing back and forth like an annoyed cat’s.

“Yes!” he squawked. “Yes, I think that’s an excellent idea.” Woolsey gave them his odd little non-smile and started toward the door, one hand on Jae’s back bringing her along. “Until 1300, Colonels.”

John grimaced at Carter as soon as they were gone and the door was closed behind them. She dropped her head onto her folded arms for a few seconds, then raised it and glared at Starsong and John.

“You two aren’t as cute as you think you are.”

John did his best to look innocent. It wasn’t very effective, not surprisingly. He knew it wasn’t a look that worked very well on him. Even the times when he really was innocent, people always assumed he was guilty. He just had that kind of face, he supposed.

Carter huffed indignantly. “You do realize you sent them off on a date.”

“Don’t remind me,” John grimaced. “Really, please don’t remind me.”

“Jae is twenty-four, not ten, John.”

“I know, but they’ve been together since before she was sixteen. If zy were male or female, it would’ve been statutory rape at minimum.”

Carter sighed, getting to her feet when Starsong started grumbling low in her chest and flexing her talons. John followed them into Carter’s office and watched as she opened the exterior door to let the tanricu out.

“No fisher birds!” she admonished the creature.

Starsong huffed and flicked her tail, but jerked her head once in agreement, surprising John.

That done, they moved to the comfortable chairs to finish their conversation, John grateful that he could slouch lazily in his chair. Woolsey was so rigid all the time that it made John’s back ache just to look at him.

“I realize circumstances forced Jae into an arrangement with Woolsey, but zy seems to be happy with him. Atlantis told me Jae refused to move into Dex Tower, preferring to stay with Woolsey.”

John’s whole face contorted in disgust. He rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth as if that would get rid of the revulsion he felt about the whole situation. “Maybe, but that doesn’t make it right.”

“I know,” Carter sighed. “Wolfe and Tony are still arguing over the age of consent for the city. Atlantis is of the opinion that it should be like it was on former Sateda, where anyone who was through their Interim was an adult.”

“That would be worse than Earth!” he exclaimed, genuinely horrified. “Some of those kids were thirteen or even younger.”

Carter winced. “Right, which is why Wolfe was arguing for eighteen. I suspect some of that has to do with his kyta having just turned seventeen.”

“What did Tony say?”

“Zy suggested sixteen.”

John thought about what his friends had been getting up to around that age and he could see both sides. The adult him thought eighteen was early enough to be making decisions like that, but the realist in him thought it wouldn’t be right to convict the equivalent of a junior or senior in high school of statutory rape for sleeping with the equivalent of a sophomore. It was going to happen with kids that close in age, especially when they were in such a closed environment with limited options.

“So what was the outcome of the discussion?”

“They were still talking about it last I knew, but the last suggestion was to have the age of consent be set at sixteen as long as there was a minimal age difference—meaning six years or less—between the parties.”

John raised one eyebrow. “Huh. What about the six years or greater age difference?”

“With that large an age gap, the age of consent would change, but they weren’t sure to what. Maybe nineteen or twenty,” Carter elaborated. “What they are both adamant about is that not even parental consent or Atlantis’ consent will prevent someone who is twenty-three or older from being charged with statutory rape if they have sex with a sixteen-year-old.”

John frowned and tried to figure out what Tony and Wolfe were trying to do. Thinking aloud, he said, “So…basically the age of consent would be sixteen because it’s unusual that someone the age of a grad student or older would be interested in someone so much younger. If the older party honestly has feelings for someone and is invested in the relationship, then they’ll be mature enough and willing to wait for the other person to be of age.”

Carter nodded. “I think that’s exactly what they’re thinking. They know they have to be realistic about what kids close to the same age are going to do, but there needs to be something to stop adults from taking advantage of teenagers who aren’t physically or mentally ready to be making serious decisions. It also prevents parents and relatives from selling off their children—kyta or otherwise—to someone a lot older under the guise of a marriage.”

John shifted in his chair, slouching further against the comfortable probably-not-leather. “I’m not sure how practical that will be when it comes to enforcement.”

“I know,” Carter admitted with a weary sigh. “They also haven’t addressed the fact that kids in Pegasus get betrothed or married a _lot_ younger than first-world Earth people do. Teyla said Osalia was married to a 25-year-old man by the time she was sixteen. They were ‘encouraged’ to have children immediately, and that’s normal on a lot of worlds. Teyla smuggled a special herb to Osalia for several years before Osalia decided she wanted children. Talsan was born the equivalent of ten months later.”

“Geez.” John scrubbed his face with his hands. “I mean, I get it. All these worlds run so close to extinction that they need to reproduce before they’re culled or die in some kind of natural disaster.”

“Yeah, but—”

“No, I agree. I’m not okay with treating kids like breeding stock. Frankly, I’m not okay with treating any human like livestock of _any_ kind. Though….” John trailed off, suddenly reminded of what Teyla had said. “As terrible as it sounds, they were probably trying to protect her. Teyla said Wraith return pregnant and nursing mothers.”

Carter raised one eyebrow. “That’s not in any reports I’ve read. Do you think it’s true?”

John shrugged, careful not to show that he was a little offended on Teyla’s behalf. “Teyla has no reason to lie about it. I bet even the Wraith know they can’t eat the ‘breeding’ humans if they want to have any humans to eat in the future.” Carter scrunched her nose in disgust, making John grimace. “My thoughts exactly. Logical or not, I don’t feel any better about marrying off kids, and none of this makes a shifting consent law easier to enforce.”

“No, I know,” Carter admitted. She crossed her legs in front of her, seeming to relax a little. “According to Tony, consent laws are never easy to enforce, but I think we all would agree that no sixteen-year-old should be intimate with someone old enough to be in grad school. They _certainly_ shouldn’t be pressured into a relationship with someone old enough to be their parent. Maybe living in the security of the city will help persuade the Athosians of the same thing.”

John tried not to think about the nightmare situation misunderstandings, real or claimed, would produce. “Let’s hope so, or there are going to be a lot of people filling up the DC.”

He also thought that saying ‘pressured into a relationship’ was a nice euphemism for what really happened to kysra on Earth and everyone in Pegasus. He cynically imagined Jay would see it as more of a hard shove off the top of a skyscraper.

Purposely changing the subject, John asked, “Wanna grab brunch? Shockingly enough, it looks like we have the morning open.”

Carter cocked her head. “Really? I’m surprised you aren’t going to find McKay.”

“Nah. I checked in on him before I went to the conference room this morning, and he was already berating his minions. He gets upset if I interrupt his rants without a really good reason.”

“That sounds about right.” She snorted and got to her feet, yawing and twisting her back in a stretch before she agreed. “Okay, let’s see what there is left. Maybe they’ll have apple fritters.”

John grinned. “Let’s head over to the West Pier. I’m hoping for bacon, but I wouldn’t turn down a fritter or two. I just don’t want to see Woolsey until I absolutely can’t get out of it.”

“I’m sure Starsong will help you to scare the pants off him again.”

John shuddered in the middle of rising from his chair. “Never ever say that to me again. There is not enough brain-bleach in all of the Milky way for that mental image.”

Carter just laughed at him and shooed him toward the door.

*~*~*~*

_Tesladay, YangHui 40, First Year of the Returned  
(June 9, 2008)_

_“You!”_

Barely having stepped into the Chief Investigator’s outer office, Tony halted abruptly. Mason Grant came bounding around the desk at zyr, but he was grinning. The mismatch of expression and tone made zyr wary.

“Damn, am I ever glad to see you!” Grant exclaimed, gripping Tony’s shoulders and shaking zyr a little.

Tony plastered on a fake grin. “Of course you are. Everyone’s glad to see me.”

Grant let zyr go and motioned to the two comfortable chairs set up with a small table between them, sort of like a waiting area at a tiny clinic of some sort.

“Do you need anything? Water or juice or something? I’d even go so far as to offer you one of my Dr. Peppers, but I know you can’t have caffeine.”

“No, thanks,” Tony declined, taking a seat. “So how’d things go? Any problems with anyone while I was gone?” Zy couldn’t think why else Grant would be so enthused to see zyr.

Grant gave zyr a lopsided smile. “Not really, but I would consider it a personal favor if you’d promise you’d never leave without telling people that you’re coming back, and that I’m not here to replace you.”

Whatever face Tony made caused Grant to laugh.

“I’m real damn serious, man! I think I’ve had half the military and most of the sciences up in here at one point or another, all tellin’ me they’re gonna be pissed if I try to take your job. It only got worse when the Athosians found out.”

Tony groaned and rubbed zyr forehead. “I forgot to talk to Halling so they’d know I’d be gone for a few days.”

“Uh-huh. I did notice that,” Grant chuckled wryly. “I understood Halling and some of their elders comin’ up here and tellin’ me they were upset you were gone. They were all real polite but real firm about how they felt about me takin’ your place. It was a little like I disappointed my mama and my daddy at the same time, but I’m a big boy. I can take that kind of abuse.”

“At least you didn’t give any of them a panic attack when you met them,” Tony protested.

“No, I certainly didn’t do that, but I might have thought about havin’ my own a time or two when I started gettin’ visits from the various people who thought I needed to know my place in the scheme of things. And _then_ I started gettin’ kids! Kids sat right across from me and stared me down!”

Tony would’ve winced if Grant hadn’t sounded so delighted. There were only two, possibly four kids who would have the audacity to confront the city’s chief inspector on their own.

“Uh-huh. I see you know exactly who I’m talkin’ ‘bout.”

“One dark-haired boy and either a redhead or a blond.”

“Redhead,” Grant confirmed with a grin.

“Talsan and Saylor, then. How long did it take Osalia to come get them?”

Grant snorted. “Long ‘nuff for them to tell me in detail how to butcher a goat that’s past breedin’ or milkin’ age.”

“What? Why would they think you’d be interested in that?” Zy couldn’t imagine what the kids had been thinking.

“I don’t think they thought I was interested at all,” Grant told zyr, “’specially since it got real interesting when they started comparing me to a goat and tellin’ me exactly where they’d make the cuts to get my limbs off and the viscera out.”

Tony’s jaw dropped.

“Not the most subtle I ever been threatened, but they got their point across just fine.”

Tony didn’t know whether zy should laugh or be horrified zy had effectively put two budding psychopaths under the same roof and said as much.

“Aw, naw, they didn’t mean it, not really,” Grant drawled, ridiculously cheerful about the whole thing. “They even told their mama what they’d said before I could get a word in. She was fixin’ to get upset with ‘em, but they told her it was what Mister Ronon would’ve done if he’d been here.”

“I’m so sorry,” Tony groaned and dropped zyr face into zyr hands and following with a muffled, “I will definitely remember to tell the kids that if I leave, I’ll come back.”

Grant laughed and slapped one palm against his thigh. “Ms. Osalia was gonna punish ‘em, but I asked her if I could, since I was the one they’d threatened.”

He raised that same hand when Tony abruptly looked up and stared at him through narrowed eyes. If he’d done anything to those boys, zy would not be happy.

“Now you just hang on before you start on me. I told the lady my wife and daughter were comin’, so when they got here, I’d bring ‘em over to introduce to her and all the rest one evening. It’d give ‘em a chance to know my family a little if we got together and had a pot luck with her people. Of course, I had to explain what a pot luck was, but she seemed to like the idea. I told her the boys would be responsible for showing Gem around at least one day a week for a Satedan month as their punishment.”

Hearing that, Tony relaxed. “Were the boys horrified because she’s a girl or excited because she’s Earther?”

“Short answer? Yes.”

Tony snickered. “Will Gemini be okay roughhousing with two boys whose idea of torture is a full day of school work?”

Grant snorted. “Will she be alright? Oh, don’t y’all worry ‘bout her. My biggest fear is she’ll turn ‘em into her minions. That child has wanted to be a veterinarian since she was three when I got accepted to the K-9 unit at my precinct. I brought home my German Shepard puppy, and she named him _Pumpkin._ ”

“Which is why you’ve only ever referred to him as Kin around me,” Tony snickered.

“Can you blame me?”

“I don’t know. ‘Sick ‘em, Pumpkin!’ seems very intimidating to me. I bet you’d have had the perps falling on the ground in terror at the sound of it.”

Grant crossed his arms and gave zyr an unimpressed look.

“But back to your minion problem, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Tony assured him. “The Athosians are used to strong women, strong personalities of all genders, really. The weak don’t survive long in Pegasus.”

“True that,” Grant agreed, shaking his head and relaxing his arms again. “It’s amazing to think these people have been livin’ here under the threat of the Wraith for so many generations. It’s a miracle any of ‘em survived.”

“The Athosians are survivors and proud of it,” Tony stated. Zy tilted zyr head, zyr forehead creasing. “I did wonder though. If you don’t mind my asking, what’s going to happen to Kin? Is Gemini going to be able to cope with not having him around?”

The smile slowly faded, and Grant sighed. “He had to stay on Earth, since the IOA wouldn’t agree to let me have him here. I talked to Gemini about it, and so did Saara, but she’s only eight. She’s the smartest eight-year-old I’ve ever met, but I’m not sure how much she understood she’d never see him again instead of this bein’ like when we go on vacation. Seein’ as Colonel Carter has that tanricu, I’m hopin’ Gem gets distracted with that and the goats and other animals so the loss is a little easier on her.”

Tony made a noncommittal sound. In zyr experience, nothing made the loss of a child’s pet easier.

“Where are Saara and Gemini, anyway?”

“Back in the lab. Saara wanted to get a look at the setup, and there’s a nice window where Gem can ‘observe the wildlife.’”

“Seriously? She says that?”

“Oh yeah. She might be Texas born-and-raised, but she talks like Saara…unless she gets mad. Then she talks like me.”

Tony grinned at the way Grant’s chest puffed out in pride at his daughter’s intelligence and her temper.

“C’mon,” Grant was out of his chair and heading to his private office.

Tony was a little slower to rise now that zy had started to feel the additional weight changing zyr center of gravity.

Zy followed him into the office, where the only entrance to the laboratory was. There was an exit from the lab to the corridor outside in case of emergencies, of course, but Tony had asked Atlantis to seal it unless it was being opened from the inside. If there were an emergency during which the person inside couldn’t get to the door, she’d beam them out.

For the moment, a green indicator light showed that it was safe to go inside. Had the indicator light been orange, Tony and Grant would’ve been required to press the ‘doorbell’ to ask for permission. If the light had been red, they wouldn’t have been allowed inside at all until Saara changed the indicator to indicate she was finished with whatever test or analysis she was performing.

The door opened with a whisper of sound.

“Hey, darlin’,” Grant called out.

A petite woman with neatly braided medium-brown hair turned from the machine she’d been working on and smiled brightly. She glanced at Tony, but her gaze swiftly moved back to Grant.

Tony had a second to wonder if zy looked so delighted every time zy saw Ronon. If zy didn’t, zy wanted to. The alternative was looking as besotted as Mason Grant did right then. Zy’d rather leave that to Ronon.

“Hello, _kulta_.” _20_

When Grant reached her, she laid her hands on his forearms and rose up on her toes to offer her cheek. Tony noted with amusement that Grant still had to lean down to kiss her.

“Saara, this is Tony Dex. Zy’s the one I’ll be workin’ with most often.”

That was news to Tony, but zy controlled zyr expression. Zy stepped forward and offered zyr hand to Saara.

“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Grant. Or is it Doctor? I didn’t think to ask your husband.”

“Doctor,” she confirmed in slightly accented English. “You may call me Saara. I only make people call me Dr. Virtanen if they irritate me.”

Tony thought her accent was something Slavic or possibly Uralic. Zy didn’t have enough experience with either language family to be able to tell.

Grant gave a fake cough, “Most of Earth,” followed by another fake cough.

Saara sighed as they shook hands. “Does your husband also think he is terribly humorous?”

“Aw c’mon, darlin’, it was a little funny,” Grant pouted. Zy also noticed that Grant’s drawl had faded slightly. Their daughter wasn’t the only one affected by Saara’s precise way of speaking.

She patted his arm and smiled, her sparkling green eyes and dimples giving away her amusement.

“Only never get between me and my first cup of coffee, and you may continue to call me Saara.”

“Then I’m Tony to you.” Zy grinned. “And I don’t drink coffee, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Papa! Come look!”

Tony startled at the sound of a child’s voice. Zy’d forgotten about Gemini already, since she hadn’t been within sight when they’d come in. It only took a quick glance around to realize that there was a partition in one corner of the lab, the one farthest from the sectioned-off area where bullet exemplars would be created by live-firing a suspect’s weapon into a liquid substance more viscous than water.

Zy followed Grant and Saara around the corner and was taken aback when zy realized Atlantis herself was sitting at a laboratory table with Grant’s daughter, all scaled down to the girl’s size. They were both dressed in Earther pants, sturdy shoes, and laboratory coats over their shirts. Atlantis’ lab coat had her name on her left breast, and Gemini’s read **Gemini Maria Grant**. Beneath that was _Veterinarian-in-Training_.

Gemini’s light reddish-brown hair was braided like her mother’s, though the little girl didn’t have any fringe. Her face was more oval than her mother’s, whose was heart-shaped, but not as rectangular as her father’s. All taken together, she was a sweet little girl who would be a beautiful woman. Tony didn’t envy Grant the day when she decided she wanted to start dating.

“Hello, Tony,” Atlantis offered with an enigmatic smile.

Gemini dismissed Tony entirely, the way children tended to do with uninteresting adults. “Papa, Mama, come look! Isn’t it great?”

“Veterinarian-in-training?” zy murmured, moving to Atlantis’ side as Gemini showed her parents where she’d been dissecting a holographic…creature. Tony couldn’t tell what it was from the remaining parts.

//She is a brilliant child whose parents could not afford to enroll her in one of the Earth academies that would provide an education equal to her abilities. She has told me several stories about her former school and her frustrations. It pleases me to invest in her future.//

“Huh.”

“Sorry, Tony,” Grant said. “Gemini, this is Tony Dex. Zy is going to work with Papa.”

The little girl turned to study Tony, her hazel eyes exactly like her papa’s. When she got to the Bump, she grinned and bounced on her toes.

“You’re a kysra! Atlantis told me about kysra!”

“I bet she did,” Tony replied, struggling to find something to say. Despite zyr luck with Talsan and Saylor, zy maintained zy didn’t know how to talk to kids.

“Yes! I think it’s good you have a category.”

Tony tilted zyr head. “A category?”

“Yep. I mean, I’m glad there are words for everybody here, and you don’t have to pretend to be a girl or a boy.” She huffed in annoyance. “I know people like to classify things, but you can’t classify things unless you have all the categories the things need. If you try to put one thing into something else’s category, it’s int—int—in’tlec….” She pursed her lips and frowned up at her mother.

“Intellectually,” Saara supplied, smoothing a hand over Gemini’s hair.

“Yeah, that. In-tlek-chew-ly dishonest.”

“I completely agree,” Tony said with a firm nod. Zy wanted to laugh or boggle at the words coming out of the kid’s mouth, but zy would never want her to feel like she was being made fun of. “It’s amazing that adults don’t understand that. You must be very intelligent.”

“Uh-huh,” Gemini agreed easily. “I’m a genius, but I don’t let it go to my head.”

Tony bit down on a grin, but not before Gemini caught it.

She heaved out a long-suffering sigh. “It’s okay. You can think I’m adorable. I don’t mind it _that_ much. Not anymore.”

“Oh I don’t think you’re adorable.” Zy totally did, but zy’d never say it now that zy knew she didn’t like it.

Gemini narrowed her eyes at zyr, and Grant shifted his weight.

Tony leaned across the table, careful to keep out of the holo-whatever, and stage-whispered. “I think you’re _awesome._ ”

That earned zyr a beaming smile from child and parents alike. Even Atlantis was looking at zyr fondly.

Okay, maybe zy wasn’t as bad at this talking to kids thing as zy’d thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **20** kulta: lit. gold; Finnish term of endearment; similar to dear or honey in US English


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

_Chernday, Bhaskara 4, First Year of the Returned  
(June 13, 2008)_

Tony checked for anything that looked like it could explode, but the physics lab was empty except for Dr. Zelenka, who was sitting on a stool at the end of a table, intensely focused and muttering at his computer in Czech.

Perfect. That was exactly what Tony wanted and why zy’d come so early in the morning to see the man.

“Hey, Dr. Zelenka,” zy said, wandering casually through the entry over to where the scientist was working.

Radek looked up from his computer, blue eyes going wide behind his thick glasses.

“Ah, hello. If you came to see Rodney, he is off-world with his team. But I expect you know that, as Ronon is also on his team.”

Tony smiled and slipped zyr hands into the front pocket of zyr hoodie. Zy hadn’t bothered wearing zyr uniform because zy planned to go for a run after talking to Zelenka. Plus, it was early enough that no one who cared what zy was wearing would be around.

“Yeah, I know. I actually came to see you.”

“Me?” His fingers stilled on his keyboard, his expression cooling and turning wary.

Tony nodded and gestured to a stool at the side of the table. “You mind if I…?”

“No! No, of course, please. Sit down,” he said, only getting more flustered and actually backing away from the lab bench.

“Thanks.”

Tony settled zyrself sideways so zy was facing Zelenka, purposely slouching sideways with one elbow on the lab table—careful not to disturb any pieces of equipment, wires, electronics, or crystals left lying all over—and being as nonthreatening as possible. Zelenka watched zyr like he’d had unpleasant experiences with police of some sort, or maybe he was just worried Tony was going to try to bust him for the vodka still zy knew was turning a tidy profit. Lucky for both of them, Tony intended nothing of the sort.

“I had an idea, and I wanted to run it past you to see how feasible it would be.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. See, I know you facilitate the black market around here, which is okay,” Tony assured him when he started to protest. “The thing is, I thought there’d be a way you could go ‘legit’ that would make the whole thing easier for you, plus it would give me, Wolfe, and Grant ways to help people if they were burned by the other party in a transaction.”

“I know nothing of this black market,” Zelenka denied with a straight face, “but of course I am interested in helping you if I can and would be happy to give you my opinion.”

If it made Zelenka feel safer to deny what the entire city knew, Tony was fine with that.

“Okay, great,” Zy said with a shrug. “I was thinking about some of the things I have that don’t really do me any good, and then I was thinking of things I’d like, or even things I’d like to learn. Right now, the city doesn’t have an official way for me to get the word out. Back on Earth, I could post to something like eBay or Craigslist, so I thought, hey, what if we had something like that? Only then I thought we should call it Zelenka’s List, since we’d need someone who could do all the background work like the initial coding and ongoing maintenance.”

“Zelenka’s List?” the scientist repeated. He blinked rapidly and moved back to sit on his own stool. “What kinds of things would one see on such a list?”

Tony cocked zyr head and considered the question. “Well, say Ronon and I want an evening to ourselves to watch the stars, go swimming, or just sleep. As soon as the baby is born, we’re going to need babysitters. If we could advertise on Zelenka’s List, people could offer to exchange an evening of changing diapers and getting spit up on for a cooking lesson from me, a fighting lesson from Ronon, or something else they need that we have or can teach.”

“You are thinking to barter not just objects but services?” he clarified.

“Yeah, that’s my thought, since there isn’t anywhere out here to spend money. Plus, it would be great if the Athosians could post things too, and they wouldn’t know what to do with Earther money if they had it.”

“Yes, is very true, yet they have many goods and skills to offer that we do not.”

“Exactly! Right now, we’re getting all their knowledge about, well, _everything_ for free. Surely there are farming, hunting, and weaving experts—experts of all kinds!—who would benefit from a more even trade of knowledge and goods. I know there’s an amazing jeweler because I bartered with him. Shouldn’t we show them that we see their skills as valuable contributions to the city?”

“And what of those things that are currently prohibited?” Zelenka asked, looking down at the pile short wires he was sorting into separate groups by length.

“Well, we’d have to sit down and iron out the rules before we asked Carter and Sheppard to sign off on it, but right now I’ll go with a pretty standard no offering, soliciting, or facilitating prostitution and/or sex trafficking. No human trafficking of any kind. No prescription drugs, controlled substances, or medical aid or devices.”

Zelenka paused in his sorting to meet Tony’s gaze. “So the Athosians still must have an agreement with Colonel Carter for medical aid?”

Taken aback, Tony said, “Well, I guess I was thinking that now that they’re a part of the city, they’d be entitled to medical care like the rest of us.”

“Ah,” he said, looking back down at his project.

“You don’t think so?”

Zelenka shrugged. “I think it is not my business, other than if I am making Zelenka’s List and must know if it is a barter item.”

“I see.” Fair enough. Tony was probably getting ahead of zyrself and talking about things that weren’t zyr business either. Zy backtracked and said, “For now, we’ll say it’s not on the list, though if someone wanted to offer medical instruction on their own time, like a first aid class, that would be acceptable. The Athosians probably have their own version of first aid or field medicine that uses plants and whatnot that are native to Pegasus. They should be able to trade that information if they want to.”

Zelenka nodded, but he seemed more invested in his sorting than in what Tony was talking about, which was disappointing. Tony studied him and shifted on zyr stool. Maybe zy just hadn’t found the right selling point yet.

“It would be a way for people like you and Rodney to get things for your skills too, you know,” zy offered.

If Zelenka were a cat, his ears would have pricked up at that. “How do you mean?”

“Well, I’m thinking about all the times Rodney is supposed to have time off, but then somebody ends up doing something stupid. He has to come in and fix it (and I’d be willing to bet it’s the same for you) because Atlantis says that if people are stupid and break things, she’ll put it on her version of a ‘to do’ list, but she’s not going to fix it immediately unless it’s an emergency.”

“Yes, yes. This happens all the time.” Zelenka took off his glasses and pressed the heel of his palm to his eye like the mere reminder had given him a headache. “I already spent four hours fixing the lighting to an entire section this morning because of some _blbec_.”21

Tony nodded and made a sweeping gesture. “There you go. If we’d had Zelenka’s List, they would’ve had to have posted it and paid you.”

“I don’t think Colonel Carter would allow that.” Zelenka shook his head and gave an irritated huff. “If something breaks, it must be fixed right away.”

Tony lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “We’d have to talk to her, but I’m pretty sure _she_ doesn’t want to be the one dragged out of bed at 0300 because somebody had a stupid idea and did the equivalent of sticking a fork in the microwave. Maybe people would be more careful if you experts weren’t quite so accessible to them all the time, and they actually had to pay in one form or another for all the stupid stuff they do even though they should know better. It’s not like we’re dealing with children, here.”

Zelenka shoved his glasses back on and pointed a finger at Tony. “If you can get her to agree to that, then I will agree to do all coding for Zelenka’s List, no question,” he finished with an emphatic cross-swipe of his hands.

“Hold on there, buddy,” Tony chuckled, giving zyrself a mental high-five for hitting on the right thing. “Don’t sell yourself short. The first thing on Zelenka’s List should be the work to make the list. Think about the amount of time you’re going to need to put into this thing on a regular basis; then come up with something you want.”

Tony didn’t think zy could’ve shocked Zelenka more if zy’d smacked him with a brick.

“You mean you expect me to be _paid_ for this list?” he asked incredulously, finally meeting Tony’s gaze fully once more.

“Well, yeah. Of course,” Tony replied, feeling like zy was the one who missing something now. “The point is to barter goods and services, right? You have the skills to perform the service the city would need to get the list up and running, plus there would be constant maintenance. There would need to be a way people could give each other feedback, and something else where they could submit an official complaint if they needed Wolfe, Grant, or me to investigate the situation.”

Tony drummed zyr fingers on the table, thinking aloud. “It would have to be a legal transaction to make sure we had a right to request records from you, so every transaction would need a form both parties signed with a thumbprint or something, stating what they’re exchanging and under what terms.”

“ _Ano, ano_. This only makes sense.”

“You’d have to have a way to filter out the offers or requests for prohibited goods or services. Plus, we have some freakishly smart people who are going to want to hack it just to prove they can, so you’d have to be watching for that.”

Meeting his eyes, Tony said, “It’s a _lot_ of work, Zelenka. Asking you to do all that on top of your normal work schedule for free would be completely out of the question. In fact, depending on how popular the list gets, you might need or want an assistant at some point. You’ll need to consider all that when you decide what to charge.”

Zelenka was staring at zyr, two little lines between his eyebrows like he was confused, so Tony offered, “If you’re willing to put together an official proposal for Zelenka’s List, including what you’d expect in return for your skills and labor initially as well as on an ongoing basis, I’ll get with Wolfe and Grant and come up with terms of use and the prohibited list. You and I will meet and make sure we have all our ducks in a row; then we’ll schedule a meeting with Colonels Carter and Sheppard.”

Zelenka hmm’d, then double-checked, “You will go with me to this meeting?”

“Yeah, it’s my idea, so of course I’ll go with you to present it. The colonels will want to know that Wolfe and Grant are on board anyway, since it’ll make more official work for us.”

Zelenka stared some more, but Tony just let him. Finally, he straightened his shoulders and nodded firmly.

“ _Ano_ , I will draft this proposal for Zelenka’s List.”

Tony grinned brightly and got to zyr feet. “Fantastic! Just let me know when you want to meet, even if it’s just to bounce ideas around.”

When Tony left, zy was pretty sure zy heard Zelenka mutter something about being able to see why people liked zyr.

_Not everybody, Zelenka, just my fellow misfits._ Zy thought. _You might as well call me Hermey.22 _

_*~*~*~*_

 Rodney dropped into bed, fully clothed. For the eighth night in a row, he was too exhausted to bother undressing.

//Rodney, will you please speak to me now?//

He turned his face into the pillow to keep from giving in to the temptation. That had been the same every night too. Atlantis had started out confused, had turned plaintive after the first two nights, and now sounded worried. He hated doing that to her, but he couldn’t take the risk. Despite knowing she was fond of him, he was sure Atlantis wouldn’t want him anymore once she found out what he’d done.

As far as he could tell, Wolfe wasn’t worried, but then again, why would he be? He had a kysra child who’d be devastated without him, so Atlantis would never force him to leave. Rodney didn’t have that card to play. Atlantis liked him now, but what about when she found out he was a murderer? He had no doubt it would happen eventually—something that horrible never stayed secret forever, no matter how much he wanted it to—and what would she do then? Would she force him to leave, or would she just leave him, separate herself from him permanently? Even if Atlantis could forgive him, Rodney knew Tony _never_ would. Zy didn’t call murderers zyr brother; zy put them in prison.

The thought of losing both of them made Rodney break into a cold sweat.

He’d been having nightmares about that and flashbacks to the day he’d killed Saunders. He hadn’t regretted it at the time. He still didn’t regret that the sicko was dead. He couldn’t figure out exactly why his subconscious kept subjecting him to replays of the incident—except it wasn’t ever Saunders he killed. Sometimes it was a friend, other time his victim wore Rodney’s own face. On one memorable occasion, it had been his cat. It didn’t make any logical sense, but the dreams kept him working himself into exhaustion in the hopes that his brain would be too tired to torture him.

Rodney had had nightmares after the first time he’d killed, but they hadn’t been anything like the ones he was having now. The difference between that long ago time and what happened on Earth was the difference between killing in battle to defend himself and his teammates, and orchestrating a premeditated, cold-blooded murder. The first was the nature of war, but the second was a crime no matter what the other person had done.

Any time he went through the Stargate, Rodney knew there was a chance he’d have to kill someone. After all, they didn’t carry P90s because it made a cool fashion statement. With Saunders, Rodney had known he was going to witness a murder at the very least. He hadn’t expected to pull the trigger, but when he’d walked into that room and had seen the person who was responsible for all the horrific images he’d seen on the dark web—images of children whose eyes were dead, spirits broken—something in Rodney had snapped. It was like he’d stepped out of his body and watched as someone else raised the zat and murdered Saunders without a flicker of emotion. That same person taunted the other Saunders and watched dispassionately as Wolfe murdered him. Then he’d done what was needed to ensure their crime was thoroughly covered up and gone about the rest of his day as if nothing had happened.

Rodney had been afraid of himself to the point that he wondered if he had picked up a Goa’uld somewhere. The other possibility was that he was becoming a psychopath. He’d stayed away from the people he loved just in case, but he couldn’t quite make himself go to Dr. Lam to be scanned. Even if he could explain why he wanted the scans, he couldn’t take the chance that the SGC or the IOA wouldn’t let him go back to Atlantis if they found out there really was something wrong with him.

It wasn’t until he got back home and felt Atlantis connect with him that it all came crashing apart. He would’ve fallen on his face if Tony hadn’t caught him, and then he was too busy to think about anything but work. That night, the first of the nightmares had hit. He’d had them every night since, so he’d been working as much as possible, drinking enough coffee to float the city herself, and avoiding everyone he could. He’d even taken the few stimulants he’d had left over from the last time there had been a crisis that had required he go for days without sleep.

But all of that was gone, and Rodney was crashing hard. Unable to keep his eyes open long enough to reply to Atlantis, Rodney drifted into a fitful sleep, his face still mashed into the pillow. It was sometime later that he woke as blankets were pulled over him. He managed noises that were so garbled even he didn’t know what he was saying.

“Sleep, Rodney.”

Oh, he knew that voice. It was just Tony.

A warm body curled behind him, an arm sliding around his waist.

Rodney’s brow furrowed. That didn’t seem quite right. He was sure he was avoiding Tony, but he couldn’t remember why. Even if he hadn’t been, they didn’t ever sleep together. Something was wrong, but what?

“Shh,” Tony hushed him. “We’re sleeping now. Don’t make me play the latest baby video.”

He grunted because he knew at some level that he was supposed to protest, but then he settled and let a deep, restful sleep take him.

*~*~*~*

The next time Rodney woke, it was to a dim room he didn’t even have to open his eyes to know wasn’t his. The pillows smelled wrong. Also, he’d gone to sleep in his clothes. Now he was down to his t-shirt and boxers. If he hadn’t known beyond a shadow of a doubt he had to be at Tony’s, he would’ve panicked.

“Chill, Rodney,” a familiar voice gently commanded.

Oh. Maybe he was hyperventilating a tiny bit.

Rodney opened his eyes and found himself staring at Tony’s side.

“What—when—how—I don’t—”

“Add who, where, and why, and you’ll have the whole set.”

“Huh?”

Though zy didn’t look up from whatever was on zyr tablet, Tony yawned, which made Rodney yawn.

“Who, what, when, where, how, and why: the questions every good detective tries to answer over the course of the investigation.”

Rodney rubbed his eyes, still too tired to try to understand how his ayah’s brain worked.

“Bathroom?”

“Around that corner,” zy said, nodding zyr head in the general direction.

It was with more than a little reluctance that Rodney dragged himself from the warm, comfortable bed. When he was finished, he returned to the bedroom and stood awkwardly at the end of the enormous bed that could only be Tony and Ronon’s.

“Get in bed,” Tony ordered.

“Uh, I really need to get back to my quarters. I have work to do.”

“Not today you don’t. Get back in bed,” zy calmly ordered again without looking up.

Rodney could feel himself weakening, wanting to be close to Tony, desperately wanting to be able to _sleep_. He couldn’t let himself give in, so he pressed his lips together and told himself to suck it up.

“No, really. I have things to do. Where are my clothes?”

“I assume in your quarters,” Tony returned mildly. “This is what you were wearing when you got here last night.”

“And—and how exactly did I get here?” When Tony didn’t say anything, he shifted his weight and scratched at his arm. “Tony?”

Zy set zyr tablet on zyr blanket-covered legs and stared at him with mock surprise. “Oh, so you _do_ still know who I am. I wondered after the last week.”

Rodney cringed.

Tony sighed and dropped the act. “Please, Rodney. Just get back in bed, and then we can play twenty questions.”

“Where’s Ronon?” Rodney hedged.

“Getting breakfast for us. Please?”

Tony patted the bed and watched him hopefully. There was no way Rodney could say no to that face, but he couldn’t get back into a bed where he knew Tony regularly had sex with Ronon. It was just weird.

“Sofa?” he offered as a compromise.

“Okay,” Tony immediately agreed. Zy slipped out of bed and padded toward the sofa, dragging the top blanket with zyr. “Hurry up.”

Still feeling odd, Rodney allowed himself to curl up on the sofa, which was just as stupidly comfortable as everything else in Tony’s apartment. Tony sat down beside him and pulled the blanket over both of them. Rodney couldn’t help but appreciate the warmth. Tony had had the option of wearing zyr favorite, well-loved and rather worn out track pants and t-shirt to bed last night, but Rodney didn’t even know how he’d gotten undressed in the first place.

“Comfortable?”

“Not really. I’m pretty sure you’ve gotten laid on this couch.”

Tony huffed a laugh and wriggled into place against him. “Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies.”

Rodney huffed and pulled the soft blue blanket up higher around his shoulders. It would be so easy to let Tony’s presence and the warmth of the blanket lull him back to sleep. But no. He couldn’t do that.

“Are you going to tell me how I got here now?”

“Atlantis beamed you here, of course.”

“Of course.” Rodney wanted to smack himself for not thinking of it sooner. He really was losing it.

“Before you freak out, she didn’t do it trivially. She and I have talked about how worried we’ve been about you, and I interrogated her about how much you’ve been sleeping.”

“You interrogated _Atlantis_?!” Rodney demanded incredulously.

“Yep. Cracked her like an egg and found out not only have you been drugging yourself to stay awake, you have scream-the-house-down nightmares when you finally collapse. Ronon and I talked about it and decided you and I needed to talk, but you needed to sleep instead of just passing out in exhaustion. None of us have a clue what happened, but I knew you’d sleep if I cuddled with you. I asked Atlantis, and she agreed to beam you into bed with us.”

_“Us?!?”_ Rodney squawked in horror. “I was sleeping with you _and_ Ronon?”

Tony snorted. “Don’t worry. I was the monkey in the middle, so neither of you so much as brushed fingertips. I’m not sure you moved more than once when you turned over and started snoring.”

“I don’t snore!”

“You do when you’re suffering sleep deprivation and acute exhaustion,” Tony retorted, no longer joking. “If this hadn’t worked, I was going to rat you out to Doc Xander so he could chain you to a bed in the infirmary. That was what tipped the scales and got Atlantis to beam you to me. She knows how much you hate the infirmary.”

“Almost as much as you,” Rodney groused, trying not to feel guilty and failing.

“Probably more, now that I have to be there so frequently, and the visits aren’t horrible or traumatic.” Tony drew in a deep breath and sighed. “That’s not the only way we’re alike. We also try to avoid things we’re afraid of, and we’d rather work ourselves to death than admit we need someone else. You’ve gotten on me about it before, so now it’s my turn.” Tony leaned zyr head on Rodney’s shoulder and continued softly, “If you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll respect that. I won’t like it, but I’ll respect it. Please, _please_ talk to someone about whatever is eating you up inside before you kill yourself. You’re my brother, and I love you. It hurts me to see you hurting like this.”

Rodney squeezed his eyes shut against the burning sensation of repressed tears. He was certain he wouldn’t be so close to bawling like a baby if he weren’t so tired. It was for the best he didn’t go in to the labs when he was this bad. He’d probably blow them all up accidentally, which would almost be worse than crying.

//Please, dear one,// Atlantis pleaded. //Please let us help you.//

“You’re going to hate me,” he choked out.

“I couldn’t hate you.”

//I could never hate you.//

“You will.” Rodney leaned his head against Tony’s and whispered his confession: “I’m a murderer.”

Once he started, he found he couldn’t quit talking. He ended up telling Tony and Atlantis how he’d found photos of Aaron Wolfe on a dark web site full of child porn. From there, he described how he had hacked the site and found the owner’s IP address, then found out who he was in the real world. He explained that by the time he’d gone to the house, he hadn’t slept and couldn’t get the horrific images of abused and broken children out of his mind. It was like the children were haunting him, crying out to him to avenge them.

So he had. Rodney had murdered a man in cold blood, then burned everything. He had made it look like Saunders had realized someone had tracked him down, so he had burned everything that could be connected to him in a paranoid frenzy. Then he’d gone into hiding.

“And then when I got back to the mountain, I tracked down every single person who’d ever accessed that site, and I sent everything I’d found out about them and the kids to the FBI’s taskforce that deals with missing and exploited children,” he finished.

He wondered if confessing his crimes was what he’d heard referred to as a verbal bloodletting. Rodney certainly felt weak and exhausted, just like he would if he’d lost a lot of blood.

“Fuck, Rodney.”

Already having braced himself for rejection, Rodney was shocked to find himself being hugged so tight he had an insane, fleeting thought that Tony must be part boa constrictor.

//Rodney!// Atlantis’ mental voice was filled with grief, regret, and righteous indignation; but all those were overshadowed by an unconditional love so overwhelming Rodney’s mind whited out. He couldn’t even process his own thoughts; he could only feel Atlantis’ love in his head and Tony’s arms around him.

“You’re not angry?” he finally croaked past the lump in his throat.

Tony drew back but refused to let go of Rodney’s forearms. “I’m pissed as hell you and Wolfe didn’t invite me, Ronon, and Teyla along.”

“I never said—!”

Tony raised both eyebrows and clenched zyr jaw. It had been quite a while since Rodney had seen what zy called zyr ‘bitch, please’ face.

“Rodney McKay, you don’t honestly expect me to believe that you found a photo of Logan’s kyta on a kiddie porn site and didn’t tell him about it, do you?”

“Well….” Okay, when zy put it like that, it didn’t really make sense.

“Right. So you had the tech knowledge, and you might have pulled the trigger on one scumbag, but I’d put down serious money on Logan planning and leading the op,” Tony said grimly. “I’d also bet the only reason he didn’t take out the one you dealt with was because he was dealing with a scumbag of his own.”

Rodney didn’t say anything, so Tony nodded. “Yeah, I thought so.”

//I cannot fathom why you believed either of us would reject you for this,// Atlantis said, sounding honestly baffled. //I am angry that you had to be the one to exact justice, but I would never be angry that one such as that beast is dead. Even now, I am going through all the databases for indications that similar are here with us. I will not tolerate such vile creatures to live within my structure, nor will I turn them over to the Earthers. I have seen the pathetic laws of that world. A human can be imprisoned longer for stealing stones and metals Earthers have arbitrarily decided are valuable! Fools! As if such things could match the value of a human life!//

Rodney turned wide eyes on Tony. “And you’re okay with that?”

“I probably shouldn’t be,” Tony admitted with a frown. “I—I’ve always been adamant about the letter and the spirit of the law, but I also believe there are times when the law fails, when justice has to be found outside the law. More than that, I’ve always thought the rape and molestation of children should be a capital crime. Aaron is here. Jimmy’s daughter and Grant’s daughter live here. _My_ children are going to live here. All the Athosian children live here!”

Zy sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If Atlantis finds anything incriminating, I’ll want to interrogate the person or people to make sure the evidence wasn’t planted or altered, but after that?” Zy made a face. “Maybe I should feel bad about it. It’s possible I might feel differently if Atlantis does find evidence of a pedophile in the city. Right now, though, I don’t have a problem with Atlantis taking care of the situation.”

“Oh.” Rodney didn’t know what to think about that. It didn’t seem like the Tony he had come to know and respect. Then again, he hadn’t seen zyr in a situation that dealt with something so horrific.

“Of course, I’m not going to recommend you shout what happened from the rooftops because there will be others who don’t agree, but the reality is that we all accepted that we’re living in a city that is the physical structure of another being. Atlantis has the ultimate veto right on any law, and I think she made her stance clear on how she will treat this kind of abuse case. Frankly, I don’t disagree with her,” Tony explained grimly, holding Rodney’s gaze. “The recidivism rate for sexual predators like we’re discussing is alarmingly high. The only way studies can say it’s as ‘low’ as 50% is when they include underage teens who get caught having sex in public places, or people who were intoxicated and whipped out their dick to pee in public and get charged with public exposure or similar crimes.

“Saunders clearly preyed on children whether they were male, female, or kysra. He made money by terrorizing and abusing them in unspeakable ways, damaging them physically, mentally, and emotionally for the rest of their lives. If there were a cure, I’d advocate for it without a doubt. Honestly, though, I don’t believe there is a cure for someone who has committed depraved acts against children. In my mind, he was worse monster than the Wraith could ever be.”

“Oh,” Rodney repeated. “I never thought about it like that.”

“It’s a horrifying topic and not one most people think about unless they or someone they love is affected. I had to think about it because I was a cop and then an agent. I’m also a kysra, and there are fewer laws in place to protect us even when we’re minors.” Tony squeezed Rodney’s arm. “Today, I mostly care about you and how what you saw and the actions you took have affected you.”

“Oh crap,” Rodney groaned, closing his eyes and letting himself fall back against the sofa. “You’re going to make me talk about my feelings? Really? _Seriously?!_ ”

Tony snorted. “I know, believe me. Ronon makes me talk about my stupid feelings all the time.”

“You’re kidding. Cave-Dex makes you talk about your feelings?!”

“Yep,” Tony assured him with a grin, kindly changing the subject as though zy could see that Rodney had bared his soul as much as he could stand and needed a break. “Ronon’s whole grunt-n-point thing is a total ruse. He has the equivalent of a Master’s degree in Satedan literature, which I know you’ll mock, but I think is awesome. Sometimes we take a bath together, and he recites Satedan poetry to me. It’s on the order of sexy, sappy Pablo Neruda stuff, too.”

Rodney’s jaw dropped. “That’s it. My brain is broken. There’s no way I’m going to be able to get that mental image out of my head. When we all die because I’m too stupid to be able to do math, I’m going to blame you.”

Tony crowed, “Oh, you think that’s bad? Just wait until I tell you….”

So relieved he didn’t think he’d be able to move, Rodney settled in and mentally prepared scathing retorts for the appropriate moments. If listening to Tony moon about zyr husband was what Tony felt was adequate punishment for not talking to zyr for a week, he’d take it.

Rodney knew their discussion, and probable future therapy or whatever Tony and Atlantis decided he needed, wasn’t over by any means. Still, knowing his ayah and his…well, his Atlantis, who was more of a mother figure to him than anyone else ever had been, weren’t going to reject him lifted a huge weight from his shoulders. Maybe someday he’d be able to move past what had happened.

*~*~*~*

_Casimirday, Bhaskara 7, First Year of the Returned  
(June 16, 2008)_

Rodney took it all back! If he’d known Tony and Atlantis were going to make him call in sick for _two more days_ , he never would’ve let them make him talk about his feelings. Not just that, but they’d decided that he’d had a traumatic experience, and he had PTSD! It was only Rodney’s sheer stubbornness that prevented them from moving him into the Dex household permanently. Even then, he’d been forced to agree to allow Atlantis to wake him from nightmares and sit with him in her human form or tell him bedtime stories until he went back to sleep!

Yeah, okay. That part didn’t exactly suck. When he’d been a kid, he’d wondered what it would’ve been like to have a mom who did that kind of thing. Atlantis’ bedtime stories were stories about her life back when she was young, long before there were any humans in the galaxy. But still! He was a grown man, and he’d never live it down if anyone else found out!

Except maybe Daniel Jackson. Rodney might tell him about the stories someday because the archaeologist would be probably die of envy on the spot if he found out Rodney essentially had interviews with someone who’d been there at the dawn of life in Pegasus.

But still!

Rodney harrumphed as he stomped his way toward the Grant quarters on the ground floor of one of the new housing complexes Atlantis had finished on the South Pier. The Grants weren’t in Tony’s building, but they weren’t very far away. Both buildings, along with Rodney’s, were part of a series that formed a decagon, in the center of which was a park even Rodney could appreciate.

Well, it wasn’t there yet. Right now it was just a giant, grassy field, but Rodney had seen Atlantis’ plans. The park would have the normal trees, grass, fountains, and flower gardens, of course. Paths made of a special material meant to lower the impact level of running and walking had been created throughout the park already for people who were crazy and liked doing that kind of thing. There were various covered gazebos for people who wanted to be outside without getting their clothes grass stained.

The park would have a small lake and a miniature waterfall that, along with areas like the climbing wall, zip-lines, and the parkour course, were surrounded by a force field that prevented anyone from entering without an adult’s presence and biometric scan.

Atlantis also had plans for the normal kinds of play areas for kids, but she wanted to include learning activities as well, so she’d planned for mini-sculptures that were really scientific concepts. She thought learning should be fun, and there was no reason kids shouldn’t climb all over DNA, xenon, serotonin, or caffeine molecules (Rodney’s favorite) so kids could better conceptualize other structures when they learned about them in school. Of course, she also had a miniature hover train planned that was really a model of the human spinal column and other weird stuff like that, so he wasn’t completely sold on all her ideas.

Rodney did like Treasure Island (an island surrounded by sand rather than water) where kids learned about sensory perception by hearing a clue at one station, then moving to the next where they would have to blink a certain number of times, point at colored circles in a certain order, spin something, smooth the spines on a holo-animal, smell three flowers and choose the one that smelled like cake, balance, bounce, shout, or even taste drops of liquid to get to the next clue.

The very first treasure at the end would be an emotion crystal like the ones Atlantis had had Rodney give to people so they could capture their feelings for Tony and Ronon, only these would hold Atlantis’ feelings for that specific child: her love for them, her pride in them for completing the hunt, and her hope that they would one day reach their full potential. That way, even children who chose not to Join with Atlantis after their Interim, or were not the descendants of Satedans, would be able to feel her when they needed her.

Rodney had told Atlantis it would benefit a lot of adults to finish the treasure hunt for that kind of prize.

//If you do not leave the transporter, you will never finish your delivery.//

“Do I have to?” Rodney whined. “Tony could do this.”

//Zy could, but should you not receive credit?//

Rodney grumbled something under his breath and stepped into the corridor that led to the Grants. He touched the pad next to the door and waited.

The door slid open to reveal a young woman in dark green shorts and a grey t-shirt that said Rice University over a crabby looking owl.

“May I help you?”

“Uh—I have—I mean, this is for you.” Rodney held up a device the size of a cassette tape Walkman from the 80s. “Well, you and your family.”

She shifted her weight to one side and raised both eyebrows.

“Pardon?”

Mason Grant wandered into the entry, yawning and rubbing one eye like he’d just woken up even though it was late afternoon and he was in jeans and a Dallas Mavericks t-shirt.

“Hey, Dr. McKay, right?”

“Right. Yes. Rodney McKay.” he said in relief, glad to be talking to someone who’d at least seen him before.

Geez, he was so bad at people. Why was Atlantis making him do this again?

“Yeah, thought so. Saara, this is Dr. McKay. He’s Tony Dex’s brother. Dr. McKay, this is my wife Saara.”

“Oh. Yes, of course. I knew you were the CSO, but we haven’t had a chance to meet yet,” she said.

“Right, right. Nice to meet you, Dr. Virtanen.” Rodney knew at least that much of the social niceties. It helped that Saara’s wary look faded when her husband told her his name and that he was related to Tony.

“You as well, Doctor. Would you care to come in?”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

Rodney followed the Grants into an open, mostly empty space. A young girl was lying on her stomach in the middle of the room, using colored pencils to draw what appeared to be an anatomically correct bird wing.

“I’m sorry we don’t exactly have anywhere to offer you to sit,” Saara said. “We do have some iced fruit tea we got from the Athosians, if you’d like.”

“Oh, no. No, thank you.” Rodney took a breath and blurted out what he needed before the Grants could think he was crazier than they already must. “Right. I brought you a—a thing.”

“Okaaay….” Grant’s brow furrowed. “What is it?”

“I can’t give you the thing until Atlantis gives you the other things, but we all have to go stand in the kitchen first.”

Mason and Saara exchanged glances.

Saara shrugged, taking the request with the ease of a mother used to dealing with odd requests. “Gem, come here, please. We need to go to the kitchen for a moment.”

“What?”

“C’mon, sugar. Dr. McKay has something for us, but we gotta go to the kitchen,” Grant told her.

“Adults are _weird_ ,” Gem announced to no one in particular, but she gathered up her colored pencils and sketch book and followed them into the kitchen.

“Right. Atlantis, is this good?”

//Yes. They won’t be in the way,// she replied.

In a lightning-fast series of flashes, the Grants’ apartment gained all their furniture along with a few pieces Atlantis had fabricated in anticipation of their needs in their new apartment.

Gem squealed and slapped her sketchbook and pencils onto the counter that divided the kitchen from the living room. She darted out and threw herself onto the sofa.

“Look, mama! We have our couch back!”

The two adults’ jaws dropped. They were slower, but they strode forward and gaped at everything that had appeared as if by magic…or by Atlantis’ beaming powers.

By then, Gem had disappeared down the hall. “It’s my bed!” she shrieked.

“How—how the Sam Hill did you get all our stuff?” Grant demanded. “We were told they’d put it in storage for us.”

“They did, but when Atlantis found out you hadn’t brought much with you, she decided that wasn’t right. She, Zelenka, and I, we all worked on this device based on a Wraith beam. When I was back on Earth, after Saara and Gemini had been brought to Cheyenne Mountain, I found out where everything had been taken. I made a trip out of the mountain and…well, I got your stuff for you.”

//I still think Grab-n-Go is a fine name.//

Rodney pointedly ignored Atlantis as the Grants just stared at him. He had to admit that Grab-n-Go was better than the Body Snatcher, which was what some of the scientists had started calling the Wraith culling device.

“You can move it around if you want. I’m sure Atlantis won’t care. She just beamed it into what she thought would be logical places for you.”

“I—I don’t even know what to say, Doctor.”

Gemini raced back from where she’d been exploring all their returned possessions. She threw her arms around his waist.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dr. McKay!”

“Um, you’re welcome.” Not knowing what else to do, he found himself awkwardly patting her on the back. “You can all call me Rodney. If you want,” he offered.

“Rodney, then,” Saara said, grinning hugely. “I am Saara, and he’s Mason. Our little girl is Gem. Anyone who brings our home to us may call us by our first names.”

Gem let go and raced over to flop down on the sofa, wiggling into the corner and sticking her feet into the crack between the cushion and the back of the sofa with a satisfied sigh.

Mason held out his hand. Rodney quickly switched the device he’d brought with him to his other hand and let Mason clasp Rodney’s hand between both of his.

“I can’t tell you how much this means to us. Just _—thank you._ ”

Rodney shrugged. “It was the right thing. There wasn’t any reason your things couldn’t have been packed and brought with Saara and Gem.”

Rodney and Atlantis both thought it was yet another oddity in the way the Grants had been dealt with, but neither one of them were above using it to their advantage.

“So that’s what the device is that you showed me?” Saara asked.

“Oh, uh, no. That’s the other thing.” Rodney brought up the device and touched the sequence to initialize it. “The one for your belongings, that was just for inanimate objects. This one…. Well, I had a cat. I wanted—but it doesn’t matter. He was old and died a few weeks ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Saara said softly.

Rodney nodded and rubbed at his temple.

//You are doing well, dear one. Simply tell them. They will be pleased.//

Taking a deep breath, Rodney rolled his shoulders back and tried again. “Tony told me about you and Gem, and I didn’t want…. I mean, Gem shouldn’t have to….” He huffed. “Here, it’ll be easier if I just show you.”

Rodney swiftly tapped through the sequence to reintegrate the selected object.

A large German Shepherd appeared. He shook himself from head to tail, then spotted his humans. He immediately leapt at Mason, barking and whining. From there he bounded onto the sofa, making strange "talking" sounds and licking the ecstatic girl, who seized him around the neck and screamed, “ _Pumpkin!_ ”

That was followed by unintelligible, delighted chattering. Rodney assumed it was delighted, since her parents weren’t yelling at him.

Mason and Saara dropped down on either side of the dog. They were caught up in the combined excitement of child and animal, hugging and petting him, letting him lick their faces and ignoring the ridiculous amount of fur and dog spit they were getting all over themselves.

//See?// Atlantis said smugly. //You did the right thing.//

Mason finally stood, leaving his wife and daughter to calm the dog and each other. He started toward Rodney, who was afraid he was about to be hugged. That kind of thing was fine with Tony, but Rodney wasn’t as okay with other people touching him.

Luckily, Mason stopped just short and clapped him on the shoulder in that weird bro-hug Rodney had seen other guys do. He stepped back and swiped at his eyes.

“Sorry ‘bout that, man.” He sniffed and shook his head, then swiped at his eyes again. “Must’a got fur in my eyes.”

“Right. Of course.” Rodney looked down and triggered the reintegration of the various doggy paraphernalia that had come with the German Shepherd. He wasn’t sure where to put it, so he just aimed the beam at an out-of-the-way spot in the kitchen.

“How the hell did you manage to get Kin here? Landry himself told me it wouldn’t be possible, and the city wouldn’t be a fit place for him. It was like rippin’ out a piece of my heart when I turned him over to the K-9 unit.”

“About that.” Rodney cleared his throat and shifted his weight. “I may have forged…well, a few things. If you get email from the Houston FBI, it would be good if you’d tell them your new assignment requested you reacquire your previous K-9 asset.”

Mason stared, then shook his head and hooted a laugh. That drew Kin’s attention, and he dashed over to jump all over him again. With Mason distracted by Kin, Rodney found himself the focus of Saara and Gem, which resulted in more hugs.

“I love you, Rodney,” Gem declared.

Rodney wondered if it was the impact of her head into his diaphragm when she hugged him that caused the strange lump in his throat.

Saara’s hug was brief. She moved away and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“I’m not the sort of woman to go around embracing random men, I promise,” she told him firmly. “I am overwhelmed by your kindness and the lengths you went to for people you didn’t even know.”

“Atlantis helped,” Rodney hedged, not sure how honest he should be. “She put you in this apartment so you could go out your patio door and into the park with Kin.”

“I see. Atlantis may have informed you of our situation. It might be that she encouraged you to feel sympathy for us, but no one forced you to go to so much effort,” Saara said, smiling sweetly. "Orchestrating this could not have been easy, and we cannot possibly thank you enough.”

Gem detached herself to bounce over to Kin to hug and be mauled by him some more, then Mason was back and gripping Rodney’s shoulders again.

“Saara’s right. You are a good man, Rodney McKay. When you need anything, you come to us. We’ll do everything in our power to see that you have it.”

“Tony,” Rodney blurted out.

Mason released him and tilted his head. “Beg pardon?”

“Let’s be real, here. I’m not actually a nice person. I don’t like most people most of the time, but I knew the IOA screwed up how they were dealing with you.” He raised his chin stubbornly and stared them down. “I took advantage of that because I want you to like it here, and I want you to be nice to Tony. Zy _is_ a good person, and zy cares about people and wants them to have justice or whatever. So I want you to agree to work with zyr, and I want you to be nice to zyr.”

“I'll just put your favor on hold because you don't have to ask for me to do that,” Mason objected. “I already talked to Colonel Carter about it: the city has a large enough population that there’s no way Tony or I could do this job alone and still have time to sleep much less spend time with our families.”

“You also didn’t want children Gem’s age threatening you with dismemberment,” Saara said, tucking her fingers into Mason’s belt loop and pulling him to her as she snickered up at him.

“That too,” Mason confessed with a grin.

“I still don’t believe you would’ve gone to the trouble of tracking down and getting Kin for us if you weren’t a compassionate soul.”

“Well, maybe,” Rodney conceded, “but I didn’t do that for you. I did that for Gem. I was a little like her: too smart for adults much less kids my age. I had a cat, though. That was my only friend, so….” He made a little waggling gesture at the girl and dog. “She needed her friend too.”

//They are right. You _are_ a good man,// Atlantis whispered to Rodney as he found himself attacked by Gem and Kin, who demanded he come outside with them. The dog seemed to have decided that if his girl liked the stranger, then he must be a part of Kin’s family and needed licking and fur all over.

Rodney submitted himself with grace, more or less—probably less, and let Gem drag him out the door into the park to see all the "awesome" tricks she had taught Kin to do.

Tony and Atlantis got him into the weirdest situations, but this one would probably be tolerable. He knew he still had lint rollers somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **21** blbec: jackass, imbecile, nitwit [Earth Czech]  
>  **22** Hermey: the misfit elf from _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

_Tesladay, Bhaskara 8, First Year of the Returned  
(June 17, 2008)_

//You are needed.//

Tony had to drag zyr brain away from the latest revisions to the laws zy and Michelle were working on. Michelle was immensely helpful because her legal training allowed her to see the possible loopholes people might exploit in what zy and Wolfe already written. However, it meant that a tedious, time-consuming process had become even longer and more frustrating. At least zy wasn’t missing out on time with Ronon, since he and the team were on New Athos to help with the harvest.

“Hang on a second,” Tony told Michelle and Grant, since he was sitting in to get a feel for what they were trying to do. Wolfe had had another situation to deal with and hadn’t made it to the meeting. “What’s going on, and where am I needed, Atlantis?”

//The detainment center. The teams have returned from New Athos with a prisoner. Teyla very much wishes to kill him. I was asked to take John to retrieve Halling, and I have done so. There is much arguing now, so I have sealed the door to the Detention Center. Due to the nature of the problem, decisions can wait until you and Investigator Grant arrive.//

_“Teyla?!”_ Teyla was always the rational one. If she wanted to kill someone there was no doubt they had it coming. “Michelle, could we finish this section tomorrow? Atlantis says Grant and I have to go to the DC.”

She nodded, surprised but willing to do as zy asked.

“She thinks you need backup?” Grant asked, his brow furrowing.

“No, I think the situation is contained.”

“That’s good, but I’m happy to come along anyway. My eyeballs are about to bleed after lookin’ at this stuff all day.” He glanced to Michelle and gave her a wry smile. “No offense.”

Michelle offered them both a smile and a laugh. “It’s alright. I think we were close to finished for today. I’ll save the draft and then go see how Saara and the girls are.”

“Great, thank you, Michelle,” Tony said. “I’ll owe you one.”

Michelle just rolled her eyes and shooed them away.

Grant and Tony headed quickly toward the transporter that would take them to the DC.

Grant murmured toward the ceiling, “Please, Lord, don’t let Gem have convinced Amanda to try another ‘fun’ experiment again.”

Tony snorted touched the icon for the DC, which was an area that required a fingerprint scan before the transporter would activate.

“I think it could’ve ended up far worse than dye-resistant hot pink and neon blue streaks in their hair.”

“You might think that, but believe you me, Amanda's mama was not happy,” Grant said, lifting one hand to rub his forehead. “I had no idea Gem knew how to make hair dye at all much less a kind that would resist dyin’ it again.”

“She _is_ a genius.”

“I love my girl and wouldn’t change her for the world, but she ‘n Saara have taught me bein’ average is just fine too.”

They stepped out into the antechamber that led to the DC. Tony was taken aback by the number of people already present in addition to AR-1. Zy had assumed Wolfe would be there, but zy hadn’t expected Carter or Woolsey, though zy probably should have once zy knew Halling had been called.

Ronon’s gaze snapped to Tony, and he clenched his jaw.

“I will know what happened to my people!” Halling shouted, shocking Tony. It was the first time zy’d ever heard the main raise his voice. Maybe the situation was a little more urgent than Atlantis had led zyr to believe.

Zy straightened zyr shoulders and strode into the center of the group, Grant on zyr six.

“Would anyone care to inform us what’s happened?” It was a question, but Tony’s tone made it very clear answering wasn’t optional.

“Kysra Tony!” Teyla and Halling exclaimed in unison, the same relief in both their voices.

Great. That meant zy was dealing with something they thought was a problem solvable by the Pegasus version of the rainbow-farting magical unicorn. Despite zyr personal amusement at the irony of the analogy, Tony would be happier if it were less frequently applicable.

“Kysra,” Halling said with a stiff half-bow. He physically elbowed Woolsey out of his way so he could stride forward, only stopping when he was crowding into Tony’s personal space. “The farmers who remained on New Athos to tend to our crops until the harvest have been taken! We do not know if it was by the Wraith or by the Bola Kai.”

“We have a prisoner, one of the Bola Kai. I _will_ interrogate him,” Teyla snarled, a slash across her cheek still bleeding.

Woolsey snapped out an objection. “That man has rights.”

“Now wait just a minute!” John protested, though Tony wasn’t sure if he was protesting against Halling or Woolsey.

“He knows where my people are!”

“He’s a _monster_!”

“Ronon said he _eats_ people!”

Wolfe and Tony exchanged glances at Rodney’s horrified screech. Tony gave a slight nod.

“ENOUGH!” Wolfe’s bellow was loud and shocking enough that it got everyone’s attention. Tony was a little impressed he hadn't needed a bullhorn for that kind of volume.

“Thank you, Sgt. Major Wolfe. Have you been able to make sense of this yet?” Tony knew zy wasn’t above Wolfe in rank of any kind, but they both knew the Pegasus natives were going to listen to Tony first, and the Earthers were going to look to Wolfe first. Grant was too new for anyone to be looking to him for answers yet. If Tony and Wolfe could be seen as a single unit of authority with Grant backing them both, then they’d be able to steer the group before it turned into a brawl or Ronon shot them all. Tony was giving Ronon shooting them all 70/30 odds at the moment.

“I know the start, Kysra Tony,” Wolfe said, purposely using the title that would appeal to the Pegasus natives.

“What is this?!. Why is everyone deferring to Tony Dex when Mr. Grant is Chief Investigator?” Woolsey complained.

“Be silent, or be gone. I care not which,” Teyla snarled.

Carter pulled Woolsey back toward the wall. "This isn't the IOA's decision. Please let security handle it."

“AR-1 and the additional manpower left this morning, as you know,” Wolfe stated as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “When they arrived on New Athos, they discovered that the Athosians were gone. A tribe known as the Bola Kai have taken over the village. Colonel Sheppard, if you’d explain what you were saying before?”

John cleared his throat, his spine stiff and his face blank.

“As soon as we saw the men guarding the gate, we knew they weren’t Athosians. We cloaked the jumper and headed toward the Athosian settlement. As the Sgt. Major said, we discovered the remaining villagers were gone, and the settlement had been taken over by the Bola Kai. At that point, our focus turned to locating and retrieving survivors.”

That seemed logical to Tony.

“There were lifesigns all over the place, but mostly in the woods. The trees are too thick for us to fly in, which made it impossible to get a visual, so I landed the jumper—”

“You should have returned to the city imme—” Woolsey began, only to disappear in a flash of light.

Atlantis appeared, back in her master-of-the-universe leather outfit and ruby headdress.

“Mr. Woolsey is having a ‘time out,’” she informed them serenely. “Please, continue.”

Grant covered his eyes with his hand and groaned.

“Atlantis….”

“He is safe if displeased, Hera.”

“Has the _Daedalus_ spotted him yet?” Carter asked, shaking her head in resignation.

“He is in his quarters, Hera. After the incident with Dr. Jackson, I permitted Kysra Jae to convince me that it is not appropriate to beam someone off my structure unless I am able to deposit them directly into another structure, even if I am keeping them safe within one of my creations—” She paused meaningfully. “—unless I am _extremely_ vexed.”

“Alright, fine. What level of tech are these Bola Kai? How about weapons?” Carter asked, seeing that it wasn’t worth arguing.

“Spears and Arrows, mostly,” Ronon said. “The only tech they have is what they’ve stole from the people they’ve murdered.”

“Okay,” Tony said, trying to get a picture of what had gone on and ignoring what Atlantis had done to Woolsey. “So you landed the jumper and began a ground search, I take it?”

“Yes,” John replied, side-eyeing Atlantis, then redirecting his gaze to Tony and Wolfe. “We split up into teams of two. One of our teams came across an injured man named Nabal Golan, who claimed to be Genii. According to Nabal, the Bola Kai had turned to Wraith worship, and they got the Athosians culled for their new masters. Ronon said it wasn’t very likely, but a lot of people have been turning to Wraith worship lately, so we had to consider the possibility. We also couldn’t be sure Nabal wasn’t lying just to get a quick escape from the Bola Kai, so one team patched up Nabal while the rest of us split up and continued searching.”

John clenched his jaw. “We had two things happen at the same time: the Bola Kai captured two of our people, and Nabal figured out we’re from Atlantis.”

“He was the Wraith worshiper,” Tony concluded. It was the only thing that made sense.

“Yes,” John answered, still in blank debrief mode. “According to Faraday, Nabal was hiding a gun, and he got the drop on them. He wounded Martin, then used him as a human shield and demanded the address for the city. Martin was able to distract him, and Faraday shot him. Naturally, the gunfire drew the Bola Kai to them, and Nabal escaped in the confusion.

“While all that was going on, we got our people back from the Bola Kai, but we seriously underestimated their numbers and got beat up a little. In the end, we made it back to the jumper and took out several pockets of them with drones. That was about the time Faraday radioed in, requesting assistance. We were able to retrieve all our people plus the prisoner and made it back here.”

In summary, a crappy day all around.

Wolfe asked, “Do you believe the Bola Kai are responsible for the disappearance of the Athosians?”

“Faraday said Nabal admitted to being a Wraith worshiper and claimed he knew where the Athosians are,” John hedged. “Ronon had informed us that the Bola Kai are said to be cannibals. Our people who’d been captured confirmed threats of that nature were made while they were being interrogated.”

Tony and the Earth-born part of the room cringed. Even the Pegasus natives grimaced.

“I decided I wanted to be sure. The one we captured is called Omal. As it happens, he’s the leader of the Bola Kai tribe,” John finished.

Tony turned to Halling and Teyla. “Do either of you think being interrogated by a kysra will have any effect on this Omal?”

“I—I do not believe so,” Teyla admitted.

“No….” Halling answered, albeit more slowly. “They place no value on life, and it is said the only ways their numbers increase are through the abduction of children or the capture and violation of women who are murdered once they’re no longer needed to feed the resulting child. I would not have you or your kyta exposed to one so vile.”

“It’s not a rumor,” Ronon told them all grimly. “I stumbled on a Bola Kai tribe, one a lot smaller than the one we saw today, back when I was a Runner. I saw what they’d done and were still doing to the people who used to live in the village. It’s the only time I let the Wraith catch up to me on purpose.” Ronon stopped and swallowed audibly. He met Tony’s eyes and repeated, “It wasn’t a rumor.”

Tony knew zy wasn’t going anywhere near that Bola Kai. Zy could see that Ronon wouldn’t stop zyr if that was what zy decided. However, even if zy’d wanted to interrogate the Bola Kai man, zy wouldn’t force Ronon to endure knowing zy was in the same room with a cannibal any more than zy'd force him to endure knowing zy was interrogating a Wraith.

“I will interrogate the prisoner,” Atlantis announced before Tony could speak. “None of you shall be exposed to the vile one, nor will I permit you to take him from my structure. Do not attempt to enter.”

She vanished, and a forcefield shimmered into place at the door into the cells.

“Well. Since Atlantis has taken the decision out of our hands, I think we need to leave her to it,” Carter stated after exchanging looks with John and Wolfe. “The _Daedalus_ has custody of those formerly detained here, so the Bola Kai is the only one in there with her.”

John nodded. “Agreed. My people needs to get to the infirmary to be cleared. Then we all have reports to write.”

//Please inform them I will notify Colonel Sheppard and Colonel Carter once I have finished.//

Tony obediently parroted, “Atlantis would like you to know that she will inform the two Colonels once she’s completed the interrogation.”

“Then I suppose we must accept that,” Halling acknowledged reluctantly.

“If you’d be willing, I’d like to speak with you, Halling,” Wolfe said. “I’d like to discuss the other human predators you know of in the galaxy so we can be prepared if and when we run into them. This is an area we've been remiss in not addressing previously.”

Halling inclined his head in agreement. “As you wish. I would be pleased to help any way I can.”

“I think I’ll tag along for that,” Grant stated. He turned to Tony with raised eyebrows. Zy thought about it, but shook zyr head, seeing relief flood through zyr husband when zy said, “I’ll go with Ronon to the infirmary this time.”

“Understandable, Kysra,” Halling said with a gentle smile and half-bow.

Tony heaved a mental sigh. Someday Halling would call zyr Tony. _Just_ Tony. It was zyr new personal goal.

*~*~*~*

Late that night, so late the second moon was high in the sky, Ronon was sitting against the headboard of their bed with Tony sitting astride his thighs as he rubbed oil into Tony’s skin and told a story to their kyta. After the day he’d had, he was intensely grateful for a peaceful moment with his meraska. Here in their home, the horrors of Pegasus and Earth felt distant enough that Ronon could relax and enjoy the silence; the breeze fluttering the curtains Tony had decided zy wanted was the only noise, and it was a minor background sound that was easily ignored.

Well, until Starsong’s roar and the resulting squawking and flapping of a flock of outraged fisher birds filled the air.

“She’s going to be in such trouble if she caught one,” Tony snickered.

“Tell your dada to hush,” Ronon murmured flashing Tony a mischievous grin. “Papa’s trying to finish his story.”

“Oh, pardon me.”

“Like I was saying, that was when my papa decided that it was funny, and I didn’t get in trouble at all.”

Tony snorted. “Right. Now tell us what happened like you don’t think we just fell off the tuber wagon.”

“Well, after my papa helped us put out the fires—”

“Oh, geez.”

“—I convinced him that Jaylon was the one who’d kept throwing paper balls in the fireplace because he thought it was weird that the first couple had burned, but the rest just disappeared.”

“Your papa bought that?”

“It was true!” Ronon protested with a grin. “It’s just I was there too. I was only ten and didn’t understand they were being sucked out the top of the chimney.”

“Which made your cousin Jaylon what, four?”

“Five, I think. Or just about five.”

“I still can’t believe your papa believed you.”

“Yeah, well it didn’t matter. Jaylon had already squealed to his own parents _and_ to Dada, so they all knew better.” Ronon huffed indignantly as Tony’s snickers escalated to outright laughter. “It wasn’t fair because then I got in trouble for not looking after Jaylon to keep him from doing stupid stuff, doing stupid stuff, and then lying about doing stupid stuff.”

“Where were your older siblings?”

“Arissa was over at her friend’s house. I think she must’ve had permission. I can’t remember where Zeran was, but I don’t remember zyr being there. Renden had decided he didn’t want to be in charge of all of us, so he ran off to sulk in the barn loft. The only thing that was fair about that day was Renden getting in even more trouble than me.”

“See?” Tony said, looking down at zyr belly to lecture the kyta. “Let this be a lesson to you: don’t do stupid stuff, don’t lie about it when you _do_ do stupid stuff, and if Papa and Dada give you a job, don’t run off to sulk because you don’t want to do it.”

“Or learn how to make a really good sad face. My youngest ayah, Jixa, could do an amazing sad face that got zyr out of trouble all the time. Totally unfair.”

“Wait, I thought Merias was the youngest.”

“Yeah, he was. It went Renden, Arissa, Zeran, me, Kelira, Alren, Jixa, and Merias. When what I was telling you about happened, Renden was almost sixteen, Arissa was fourteen, Zeran was twelve, I was ten, Kelira was almost eight, Alren was six, Jixa was four, and Merias must’ve been close to three. No, wait. He probably was three by that point. He and Jixa were only ten months apart.”

Ronon wanted to laugh at the way Tony’s jaw dropped and how wide zyr eyes got.

“I hope you don’t think we’re having eight children in the next twelve years!” zy squawked.

Ronon did chuckle then. “No, m’kysra. When I got bethrothed, my papa took me aside and told me that I should never pressure my spouse to have kyta. It was always up to the kysra or woman who was going to bear the kyta if zy wanted one, a dozen, or no kyta at all.”

“But your parents had eight! _Eight_ children!”

“Well, yeah, but that’s because Dada and Papa talked about it before they got married. Papa knew Dada wanted a big family. He said if they’d been able to afford it, Dada would’ve been one of those parents with at least a dozen kyta." He shrugged slightly. "Most people in our village didn’t have such huge families. We could afford our family because we lived on a big farm and grew most of our own produce and food animals.”

Ronon smiled at the memory. It hurt; it always would, but the pain wasn’t quite as sharp as it once had been.

“Dada loved littles and younglings. Zy and Papa married when they were seventeen and had Renden nine months later. Even ten years after the chimney thing, I couldn’t go home without tripping over littles, younglings, and my own brothers, sisters, and ayahs. Between my siblings, my cousins, and all their kyta, Dada still had a house full of troublemakers most of the time.”

Ronon studied Tony’s face. Zy still seemed shocked and a little horrified, so he told zyr, “Zeran was the complete opposite. Zy often told zyr meura that he better not bring home a female and kyta, or zy wouldn’t even speak to him again until the kyta were raised and bonded. Zy wanted nothing to do with raising a bunch of kyta—human _or_ meura."

Tony tilted zyr head, zyr shock finally fading, and zyr eyebrows quirking in bemusement. “Really? I guess I thought maybe all Satedans thought kysra were supposed to want a bunch of kids.”

Ronon snorted and rolled his eyes. “No, of course not. We were from a more traditional village where I was the odd one for wanting to move to the city and go into the military as soon as I could. They didn’t understand how anybody could want to live in a city like that. They put up the same kind of fuss when Zeran finished school and went on to work for a research company in my same city, but the fuss was because zy moved away, not because zy didn't want to get married and have kyta. After a couple of years, the whole village was really proud of both of us. In fact, the last energy rifle design was Zeran's, and it was more effective than anything else we had against the Wraith.”

Tony framed Ronon’s face between zyr hands and brought their foreheads together.

“I wish I could give them all back to you.”

“I wish I could have them back just so they could meet you,” Ronon whispered sadly. “Papa would adore you, and Dada would be a moon to the stars23 to have another anakyta.24 Zeran would be thrilled to have another kysra to commiserate with about the ‘stupid kysra veneration,’ as zy called it. Jixa took all that as zyr due, and it always twisted Zeran’s tail25 something fierce.”

“I know I’d love them too. I already do just from what you’ve told me about them.”

Ronon slid his hands from Tony’s belly around zyr to draw zyr into his arms. He hissed when he felt how cool zyr back was.

“You’re so cold! You should’ve said something,” he chided zyr softly. Not caring that he was going to get oil all over their blankets, he pulled them up from below his knees and wrapped them around Tony. He chafed his hands against zyr back, trying to warm zyr.

Tony hummed and snuggled into him. “I didn’t realize I was cold until I felt your hot hands on my back.”

“My hands aren’t hot. You’re just that cold.”

Tony pressed a line of soft kisses to his neck and his collarbone. “I think I know a pretty good way to warm up,” zy teased.

Ronon waited for the automatic internal flinch he’d had since Dakaroth, but it didn’t happen, not even with Tony sitting on him. The other time they’d tried making love with Tony on top hadn’t gone well. Ronon hoped this would be different. He wanted to try.

“Oh, really?” he kissed the spot he could still remember biting that horrible night. When that didn’t set him off, he let himself taste his gorgeous meraska’s skin all the way to that place just beneath zyr ear that always made zyr shiver with something other than cold.

“Yeah,” Tony breathed, trembling in Ronon’s arms when he found the right spot. Zy moaned softly and slid zyr fingers into Ronon’s loose curls, gently holding his head in place.

Zy squirmed, and Ronon pulled back to see zyr biting zyr lower lip. He pulled zyr lip from between zyr teeth with his thumb.

“Don’t do that, m’kysra.”

“You could kiss it and make it better?”

It was a question rather than a request. Tony was always careful not to push Ronon, and he loved zyr all the more for it.

“My brilliant dahrym,” Ronon murmured, licking his own lips so they wouldn’t be dry when he kissed zyr.

Ronon guided their lips together. Tony sighed into the kiss, returning it but staying carefully non-aggressive. As Ronon started to feel more confident, their kiss turned hotter but no less loving. He sucked on Tony’s tongue then chased it to taste zyr more fully. Their hands began to roam each other’s bodies, relearning each other, rediscovering those places that could make their breath hitch, their hips jerk.

“Good?” Tony asked when zy licked over the nipple zy had been sucking.

“Yes, very,” he softly replied. “The other one now.”

Tony complied, and Ronon’s cock throbbed against the material of his pants…pants that had been loose but now constricted him uncomfortably.

“Kiss me,” Ronon demanded.

He encouraged zyr closer with a hand just above zyr ass and was rewarded with a gasp when zyr hard cock brushed against his stomach.

“Okay?” zy asked again.

“Yeah.” Ronon gently cupped zyr ass, then slowly eased two fingers between zyr cheeks to touch zyr opening.

Tony swallowed a cry and arched zyr back.

“Sorry, sorry,” zy panted, trying to still zyr hips.

“Don’t stop; let me feel you.”

“Oh, shit, really?”

“Yes, m’kysra. Let me feel your desire.”

Tony started to rock zyr hips, rubbing zyr cock against his stomach and zyr cloa against his fingers. It wasn’t long before Ronon had to give in to temptation and press the tip of one finger inside Tony’s slick heat.

Zy moaned and shuddered.

Ronon couldn’t believe how hot and tight zy felt around just one finger. Had it been so long that zyr body had forgotten what it was like to be spread open on Ronon’s thick cock? Counting back, he realized that other than a couple disastrous attempts, it had been over a week since he’d been inside zyr. No wonder Tony’s muscles were clenching on him, zyr inner walls slicking them both with the evidence of zyr desire.

When Ronon withdrew, zy bit down on an unhappy whine, only for zyr jaw to drop, breathing out a deep groan when he pressed back inside with two fingers. It healed something in Ronon’s mind to see Tony losing zyrself in pleasure as he stroked and stretched open the channel that zy had never let anyone else touch that way.

No matter what Tony said, Ronon still blamed himself for eating the poison mushrooms and forcing Tony into a position where zy had to leave Atlantis’ protection and subject zyrself to his madness. That his meraska could still trust him enough after that to feel desire for him, enough to become wet at all was amazing. That zyr slick muscles clutched at his fingers—every slide inside, every touch to zyr prostate making zyr hotter, wetter—was astounding and humbling.

Two fingers quickly became three. Tony took them easily, zyr whole body flushed with heat and arousal.

Unable to watch and not try for more seemed foolish, so Ronon withdrew his fingers.

“Kneel up some?” he rasped.

“Are you sure?” Tony whispered, drawing back so zy could see his eyes.

Ronon nodded. “Let me?”

“Yeah, of course. I— _always_ , Ronon. I always want you.”

Tony knelt up, and Ronon lifted up enough to slip his pajama pants down, then squirmed until he could get them down past his knees and off entirely.

“Come here, dahrym,” he said, guiding Tony over his hips and angling his cock so zy could sink down on it.

Zy took him inside zyr until zyr ass met his hips and they both groaned. Tony couldn’t even move, zyr inner muscles were clenching around him frantically, slick and hot as Tony panted harshly.

“You feel so good around me,” Ronon murmured, groaning when zy finally rose up and slid down again. “Ride me, Tony, please.”

They started a slow rhythm, Ronon siding down the bed a little until he could partially raise his knees. That changed the angle for Tony, as evidenced by the sharp cry zy gave the next time zyr took him inside zyr. Zy shuddered and groaned and rocked zyr hips, working zyrself on his cock as Ronon stroked zyrs, until the air was filled with zyr moaning and bitten off curses.

A bead of sweat trailed down Tony’s neck to zyr chest. Ronon couldn’t resist flexing his abdomen so he could lean up to lick it away. He couldn’t hold the position for long, but he wanted to be close. He wanted to watch Tony’s face, wanted to watch zyr come and know that he had given zyr that; he had given pleasure rather than using zyr body roughly.

He braced himself with his hand on the bed behind him, which put his shoulders at the right height for Tony to hang onto as zy began to lose zyrself further in zyr own pleasure. Even in the soft light, Ronon could see Tony’s pupils were blown wide and dark.

Ronon angled his knees a little more to give himself leverage to thrust up the next time Tony came down. It made zyr throw zyr head back and yell, then shudder around him in a pre-climax shiver.

Zy dug zyr nails into his shoulders. “No. You. You come first,” zy panted.

“Love you, m’kysra. Wanna see you come. Wanna feel you even tighter around my cock.”

Tony glared, and Ronon returned a feral grin. It was difficult to be intimidated by a pleasure-drenched meraska so close to coming all over them both.

Then zy narrowed zyr eyes and smirked. The next time their bodies met with a smacking sound, Tony moaned loudly and circled zyr hips.

“Feels so good, Ronon. Love having you inside me.” Zy moaned again and stared into his eyes. “Love you. Only ever loved you.”

Ronon hissed, unable to stop his automatic reaction to hearing Tony say those words. He gritted his teeth, trying to trap his own groans.

Zy smirked again, zyr eyes glittering. “You make me so hot. Can you feel it?” Zy rose up and clenched zyr muscles, then dropped down.

Ronon’s eyes rolled back, his orgasm coiling at the base of his spine. “Fuck, m’kysra!”

Tony laughed, a low, breathless sound. “Can you feel how wet you make me? I’m so close.”

Zy leaned back, bracing zyrself up on Ronon’s knees and arching zyr back.

“Look at us, _caro_. Can you see our bodies join together?”

Unable to resist, Ronon dropped his gaze to see just that: Tony rising and then falling, both of them wet with zyr slick. He shuddered hard, his stomach muscles drawing tight and refusing to relax.

“Feel your cock throbbing in me. Close, aren’t you?” Then Tony panted, unable to speak for several seconds. “Love it when you come inside me. We’re going to have a hundred kyta because I can never get enough of it. Give it to me; come inside me and make me yours. Only yours, my love, my husband.”

Ronon submitted to Tony’s will and came hard, a yell forcing its way from his throat as his body jerked with each powerful pulse of ecstasy. Tony cried out in triumphant bliss, seizing tight around him as zy spilled between their stomachs. The sight of Tony, the scent of zyr come, the feel of zyr inner contractions heightened and extended Ronon’s own orgasm until he felt dizzy from it.

They collapsed at the same time, Ronon falling back on the bed and Tony onto his chest. Their arms came around each other, holding each other gently in the aftermath of their passion. They kissed slowly, luxuriating in being able to touch and kiss each other so freely.

“I won,” Tony teased after a long while.

“Yeah, you did.”

Zy lifted zyr head enough to grin victoriously.

Ronon rolled them so they were on their sides, his cock slipping from zyr. He sat up and looked down at the two of them, both covered in sweat and come.

“You also made a mess.”

Tony burst into bright laughter, trailing zyr fingers down zyr abdomen through the lines of come, over zyr cock and between zyr legs as if zy could stop the spill of Ronon’s come and zyr own slick. Zy held up two fingers drenched with the combination, utterly delighted with Ronon and zyrself. “Yes, yes I did.”

Ronon grinned wickedly and took grasped zyr wrist. He stared into zyr eyes, leaned forward, and took the fingers into his mouth, cleaning them thoroughly with his tongue.

Tony’s breath caught; zyr eyes grew satisfyingly wide.

“Hmm,” Ronon purred, releasing zyr fingers with a pop. He got to his knees and pressed Tony’s thighs open again, stealing between them and pushing zyr legs up and wide with his hands behind zyr knees. “You won, so it’s only right I clean up.”

“Oh, _fuck_.”

Ronon slid onto his belly and looked up the length of Tony’s body, shooting zyr a wicked grin. Zyr pupils dilated again, and zyr breathing accelerated.

“Only when you beg,” he growled.

He lowered his head. Tony whimpered.

They had the next day off. There was plenty of time for a championship round…or several.

*~*~*~*

_Noetherday, Bhaskara 9, First Year of the Returned  
(June 18, 2008)_

John had been pleased that he wouldn’t be stuck in yet another day of negotiations between Atlantis and the IOA on what was supposed to be his day off…right up to the point where Carter had smiled and said, “Great. Then you’ll be able to talk to Tony Dex about going to M7F-656.”

So much for a stress-free day.

He might’ve tried to pawn off the duty on his 2IC, but Lorne had been walking around in a daze the last several days. He’d actually walked into a door because he’d forgotten to think it open. If he didn’t have himself together soon, John was going to send him to Doc Xander or that new psychiatrist, Dr. Picard. No, it was better if John handled the situation himself.

Resigned to his fate, he moved on to his assigned task for the day. John activated his comm and called for Tony, then Ronon. Unsurprisingly, neither of them answered. It was their day off too. It wasn’t very likely that either of them would have their comms on when they’d be told by the city herself if there were an emergency.

John didn’t want to head over to their place if they were out somewhere or, worse, home but doing things John didn’t want to see. Considering the problem, he activated his comm again and hesitantly called out, “Atlantis?”

“Hello, John.” The amused voice came through his comm perfectly clear, confirming Johns suspicion.

“Ha, I knew it! Rodney _has_ been talking to you all this time!”

Atlantis chuckled lowly. “You are welcome to speak to me, my pilot. I would enjoy your company.”

“Okay, good to know.” John evaded answering directly and changed the subject. “I was wondering if you’d tell me if Tony is available? I’m pretty sure you already know what I need to talk to zyr about.”

“I do, and I will ask zyr.”

“Thanks.” John thought it never hurt to be polite. He’d started hearing stories about people who repeatedly insulted the city out loud suddenly finding that equipment, transporters, even showers no longer worked reliably for them. He had no desire to find himself on Atlantis’ bad side.

“Tony says zy and Ronon are in their courtyard. You are welcome to come speak to them,” Atlantis informed him after a few seconds. “Would you like me to beam you there?”

Well, it would save time. “I wouldn’t mind, but I wouldn’t want you to go out of your way when I can walk.”

“It is not out of my way. I would do so much more for Tony, but zy insists that zy must walk as much as zy can to ‘keep the baby fat on the baby.’”

John wasn’t touching that. He knew when his opinion on something would be wrong no matter what he said.

“Okay,” John stood. “It would be great if you’d help me out this once, though I need to keep fighting trim and won’t ask you to do it much.”

“As you wish,” Atlantis said, still sounding amused.

There was the usual disorientation that came with disappearing from one place and reappearing in another.

“Hey, John.”

“Sheppard.”

“Hey, guys,” he returned the Dexes’ welcome.

The sunlight was brighter than he’d anticipated, forcing John to squint and raise one hand to shade his eyes. Tony and Ronon were beneath a huge sun umbrella, lounging on one of their padded deck chairs with Tony sitting between Ronon’s legs and leaning against his bare chest. Tony’s t-shirt was pulled up above the Bump, as zy was calling it, and Ronon had both of his huge hands splayed over it. Tony appeared to be pressing two of Ronon’s fingers into one spot.

Tony looked serene, and Ronon was sporting a besotted expression that John hadn’t seen for a couple months. It was probably a good sign that it was back. John had never asked, but he knew things hadn’t been the same between them after the mushroom planet.

One of the fisher birds called, and a much closer one answered—one close enough that the volume of its shriek made John wince and rub his ear.

“There zy goes. Feel it?”

“Yeah,” Ronon said after a couple seconds, his grin turning wider and happier than John had seen it.

Tony angled zyr head back and smiled at him, murmuring something that made Ronon kiss zyr.

Turning back to John, Tony offered, “Have a chair, John. There’s still some cinnamon-swirl raisin bread I made earlier. You’re welcome to help yourself.”

“My taste buds say yes, but my uniform says no. I’ve already had to add another mile onto my morning run because all I do is sit on my ass all day in _meetings_.” John made a face and shook his head in disgust as he lowered himself onto one of the other chairs beneath the sun umbrella. 

“Your loss,” Ronon taunted with a grin.

“Don’t be mean,” Tony lightly scolded. “How are things going, John?”

John raised one eyebrow in surprise. “You mean Atlantis hasn’t kept you informed?”

“Nah. Tony’s asked a couple times, but all she’ll say is things are going much as she expected.”

“Really? I thought she told you all the good stuff.”

“No,” Tony shook zyr head slightly. “She said that she doesn’t want me to be put in a position where I feel like I have to give her advice. I’m a Satedan now genetically and even officially via IOA decree, but she doesn’t want anyone to have a leg to stand on if they accuse me of influencing the outcome one way or the other. As it is right now, I can honestly say I’ve asked, but all Atlantis has said is the same thing Ronon just told you.”

That made a lot of sense. Tony might feel more allegiance to Atlantis and Sateda, but being stuck between Atlantis and Earth would be hard.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about the long-term placements, though, right?”

“Yeah, of course. I know Rodney, Wolfe, and Lorne are all approved.”

“There are quite a few more: me, Zelenka, Doc Xander—”

“Seriously?!” Tony exclaimed. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell us when we got back!”

John shrugged one shoulder. “He might not have known yet. Let’s see, Pollard—”

“He’s the one who just got betrothed to Osalia, right?” Ronon asked.

“I didn’t know that part, but I’m not surprised,” John replied. He suspected there would be a lot more people becoming tied to Pegasus through marriage eventually. “Uh, Chief Poisson, Major Jordan, Dr. McNamara, all of SR-1 & SR-2. I think that’s everybody I know about right now. Oh, wait! There’s one more. That little guy from marine biology. I can’t think of his name right now.”

“Dr. Wheeler?”

“Yeah, him. That one came through as approved just today.” John had to wonder why Carter's name hadn't come up on that list. He knew she wanted to stay, but maybe she was waiting for something.

Tony was shaking zyr head, and even Ronon looked impressed. “Wow. Just. Wow. Including the original three, that’s about twenty people. I bet the IOA didn’t expect that.”

John grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Woolsey certainly didn’t. I understand there are more applications, but Atlantis says she’s going to hold off approving anyone else for a while unless they have orders to leave and she definitely wants to keep them.”

“Ah, that makes sense. No need to freak out the Earthers any more than she already has.”

“So what’s up, Sheppard?” Ronon asked, apparently impatient with the small talk.

“What makes you think I didn’t just come up here to chat with you two?”

“Other than Atlantis already said you had something to talk to us about?” Ronon shot him a knowing look, then raised one eyebrow. “You’re not in there negotiating, so you must have something else you got stuck doing, probably asking Tony to leave the city for something Earth thinks is important.”

John cringed and regretted ever assuming Ronon was dumb muscle. He fell back into that thought pattern sometimes, though he knew better now. 

“Alright, fine. Here’s the deal. You guys probably know we managed to get ahold of some of that thread or whatever it is from M7F-656.”

“I’d heard that,” Tony acknowledged. “I think Osalia said something about a friend of hers spinning and then weaving it the last time I went to visit her and the boys.”

John couldn’t help his lopsided smile at the mention of Osalia’s boys. They had somehow wiggled their way into his heart, and he wasn’t quite sure when it happened. Maybe it was that first trip to Atlantis from New Athos, or maybe it had been at the wedding itself. He’d taken them up in a jumper a few times now, with their mother’s permission, of course.

Saylor reminded him of Rodney—a good heart, but a little bit of a blunt object when it came to people. Talsan reminded John of himself—quietly watching everything, and much happier when people underestimated him. John had actually felt the little shit trying to take the jumper controls from him a couple of times. He didn’t have the gene, so he didn’t have a chance of succeeding, but the sneaky attempt had nearly brought a tear to John’s eye.

Then John had found out the two had threatened to butcher Grant when they’d thought he was replacing Tony in the city. John had told himself it would be inappropriate to reward them with more time in the jumper…at least not until the incident had moved to the back of the adults’ minds. They were such _cute,_ bloodthirsty, little guys.

“Right,” John said. “Osalia’s friend did a great job, though the weave isn’t as fine as what we’re used to in Earth fabrics. Still, it turns out it has some pretty interesting properties.”

“Like what?” Tony asked, intrigued, even as zy moved Ronon’s fingers to a different spot on zyr belly, and Ronon got a faraway look.

“We can’t exactly test it against a Wraith’s feeding hand, but the fabric is resistant to knives up to a certain point—no pun intended. The smaller and sharper the knife, the more it resists.” John tried to suppress a mean grin but wasn’t very successful. “Chief Poisson was _pissed_ when the geeks appropriated his good chef’s knives to test it out and ended up dulling the blades significantly. I think Atlantis had to get involved and make him a new one, and the guy who actually stole them is the most well-behaved person we have because he’s terrified of being given to Poisson for scut work.”

Tony and Ronon both snickered at that.

“The fabric isn't bullet-proof, unfortunately, not at the level of thickness and density of weave we have right now, so we’ll still need our tac vests. It is lighter and cooler than Kevlar.”

“Meaning you could make regular clothes out of it and wear them beneath your uniforms.” Tony arched zyr neck to look back at Ronon. “Which my husband had better be wearing unless he has a damned good reason for going without!”

When Tony found out Ronon hadn’t been wearing a tac vest, zy had not been pleased. Ronon had bitched about having to wear it until John pointed out how many more knives and other weapons he’d be able to hide in it.

John suppressed a smile and avoided Ronon’s gaze. “We think it could be worked fine enough to make a fabric that feels sort of like Under Armour, but which would be useful as a type of real armor.”

“Well, that sounds useful.” Tony flexed zyr bare feet as zy watched John, cracking zyr toes and making Ronon cringe. “Sorry, _caro_. I forgot.”

Ronon just grunted.

“Yeah, I thought it was pretty interesting,” John agreed. “What got the geeks all excited was that it is uniquely non-conductive, heat-resistant, and flame-resistant. Honestly, they haven’t been able to get it to catch fire at all yet. It gets to the point of being uncomfortably hot, but not so hot it would burn the average person. Somebody with really sensitive skin or new SkinGun skin might, but we haven’t had anyone to test it on now that Atlantis healed up Lorne and Wheeler.”

Ronon’s brow furrowed, but Tony cocked zyr head.

“Do you think it would’ve protected Lorne that day he got burned?”

“I can’t say for sure, since I don’t know if they’ve tested it to see if it’s waterproof yet. I doubt it is, so probably not.”

It was an interesting thought. John would have to ask if they’d tried that yet.

“So it’s useful as real under armor, and it’s non-conductive. I’m not sure how that could be useful, except if…. Oh, I see. It would help in physics labs and cleanrooms?” Tony suggested.

“That’s exactly what I thought of first. Zelenka point out that it would be great for welders, electricians, firefighters, basically anyone who works around fire or electricity.”

John was paraphrasing because Zelenka had had a much longer list, but he knew Tony and Ronon would get the point, though Ronon wasn’t looking quite as enthusiastic as he had been.

“Even Poisson's people could use something like that for taking things out of those huge ovens and smoke houses if it’s that heat-resistant.”

“Maybe it has some uses here, but it sounds like the biggest deal about it is that it’s marketable back on Earth,” Ronon stated flatly, watching John through narrowed eyes.

John tried not to wince, but he couldn’t deny it. With Woolsey in the city, he and Carter had been very careful to couch everything in terms of its potential benefit to Earth, even if that wasn’t what was at the forefront of their minds when they were making decisions.

“Marketability on Earth is a consideration, of course. The thing is, we need more of it if we’re going to be able to experiment with it to find out what other practical applications it has for the city.”

“Wait. This isn’t just a case of it might be nice to have the rainbow unicorn along on a trip.” Tony’s expression closed off. “Isn’t this the planet that sent AR-5 back through the gate with their tails on fire…. _Oh._ That cloth would be why the natives weren’t afraid of wielding flamethrower-like weapons.”

“Yeah, it’s that planet, and you’re probably right about why they have the weapons they do,” John admitted. He decided to bite the bullet and just say it outright, though both Tony and Ronon had to know what he was there for already. “Here’s the deal. My team just got put on the schedule to go out tomorrow afternoon. I’m doing double-duty by telling Ronon about it and asking if you’d consider coming with us, Tony.”

“I see.”

Ronon wasn’t nearly as calm about it.

“Do you know what we were doing before you got here?” he growled.

John was not an idiot, as if the visible marks on either of them could be explained away as anything other than love-bites and scratches they’d given each other in moments of passion. At least Tony’s shirt was down so Ronon’s hands were under it rather than groping zyr openly.

“Is this a trick question?”

“No,” he retorted angrily. “We were laughing about something, and it woke up the kyta. Tony’s been able to feel zyr move for a while, but zy’s finally big enough that _I_ got to feel zyr move for the first time. Now you’re asking Tony to risk zyr life and the life of our kyta for some _cloth_? Cloth that we don’t know for sure we can use, but _Earth_ can!”

Ronon clenched his jaw and swallowed hard, dropping his eyes to the curve of Tony’s neck and shoulder and pressing a kiss there.

Well, now John felt like shit. When put that way, he could see Ronon’s point, but just because they hadn’t discovered a ton of uses didn’t mean there weren’t any. They had welders and electricians in the city who could use protective clothing like that. It was one of those times it sucked to be the one in charge because no answer was easy or fool-proof.

“I’m asking if you two would consider it. I’m not demanding either of you go,” he replied calmly.

He’d take Ronon off the team, if that was what he really wanted. The man had lost enough to the Wraith that John couldn’t and wouldn’t ask more of him. He’d thought that had been clear to the Satedan, but maybe not.

“Good,” Tony replied, a sort of implacability in zyr eyes John hadn’t ever seen before. “Look, I’m not saying this isn’t worth my time or that it isn’t a good idea—especially since I’m not the only kysra, but I’m sure as hell not sending Aaron or Jae out there. However, you need to know that Ronon and I will discuss it, and I won’t go unless we _both_ agree it’s the right thing to do.” Zy grimaced, zyr hands covering Ronon’s on the Bump. “Now that I’ve had first-hand experience with the Wraith, I’m less gung-ho or maybe just a little more cautious about taking the chance that I’ll run into one of them.”

John nodded. “I can respect that. Please believe I’d never want you to leave the city if you didn’t think it was the right thing for the three of you.”

He caught Ronon’s gaze and got a short nod back. At least he wasn't going to have to wonder if Ronon would kill him while he slept.

John got to his feet and backed away, physically removing himself and the pressure his presence brought. When he’d arrived, Ronon and Tony had been so calm, so happy. Now…now they weren’t. John honestly regretted coming to them at all.

“You know,” he said quietly. “Ronon, maybe you and Tony should both sit this one out. Let Dr. Jackson prove his skill. We haven't let him out of the city yet, so I'm sure he'd be game.”

Ronon snorted, and Tony’s shoulders relaxed.

“Rodney would eat him alive,” zy said.

“If he can’t handle Rodney McKay—” John shrugged. "Then he’s not ready for Pegasus, and he should probably go back home.”

John was well aware that kind of attitude was too hard on Jackson. There wouldn’t even be a Stargate program if not for him, but that didn’t mean he’d always be the best man for the job. Part of _John’s_ job was knowing which man, woman, or kysra was the right person and sending or going with them.

Besides, the comment had gotten Ronon to relax, and Tony was smirking. As far as John knew, Tony didn’t know Jackson at all. Zyr bias against him had to be because of Rodney.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know before first moonrise so I can either tell Jackson to gear up or ask SR-1 and SR-2 to be ready.”

“Why search and rescue?” Tony questioned, tilting zyr head and zyr brow furrowing in confusion.

“We’ll be the only team away from the city tomorrow, so they don’t need to be on call. They worked well together before, none of them have stupid Earther prejudices against kysra. Plus, Bricklaw is an M.D. Doc X trusts. Your buddy Jimmy has a long way to go before I’d let him off-world.”

John didn’t mention that all their reports about Dakaroth had been as discrete as John had asked for the first time. That had _not_ been the case with everyone.

“Oh, you’re not kidding there,” Tony huffed a laugh. “Jimmy is no more ready to leave the city than Michelle is. He has potential, but he’s a city boy who grew up in a loving family. He’s not prepared for the Wraith or the hard realities of Pegasus. _I_ wasn’t prepared for them, and I was a cop and then an agent. Even before that, I can’t remember a time when I _wasn’t_ used to needing to watch my own six.”

Ronon rumbled something in Tony’s ear that made zyr grin.

Zy added, “What you said about them makes sense, even if Bricklaw looks weirdly similar to this other guy I met once.”

“That means you’d be good with all eight of them if or when you do go into the field at some point?”

“My only problem might be with Red Eagle.”

That stopped John short. “What?”

Tony nodded, a mischievous grin slowly growing. “Yep. The one day I managed to pry the little Wolfe-puppy out of zyr rooms and down to the mess for lunch, SR-2 was there. I sat us next to them without a thought, and Aaron ended up across from Red Eagle. Zy took one look at him, blushed so red _my_ cheeks hurt, and couldn’t say a word the entire rest of the time. Zy barely managed to stop mooning after him long enough to eat something.”

“Oh, crap. Do _not_ tell zyr father. I just got Red Eagle,” John whined, ridiculously thankful not to be leaving them on such a heavy note. “He’s tough _and_ smart. I like Red Eagle. _Atlantis_ likes Red Eagle. _Other_ people like Red Eagle.”

“Think that might be the problem,” Ronon sniggered, nuzzling Tony’s neck.

“I think Red Eagle is a good guy. He put up with the kid’s subtle-like-a-sledgehammer staring. He even caught Aaron’s eye, gave zyr this sly little grin and said, ‘see ya ‘round, darlin’ when he left. Not anything remotely inappropriate,” zy was quick to assure them, “just cute and willing to indulge zyr a tiny bit. The kid almost stopped breathing, and I haven’t been able to get zyr out of zyr apartment except to come up here ever since.”

“Okay, fine,” John pouted. “He can be _cute_ all he wants, but don’t tell Wolfe anyway. You might have noticed he’s a little protective of his kyta.”

Tony scoffed, “Understatement of the year, there, John.”

“Possibly, but I can’t say I don’t understand it. _I_ feel protective of Aaron Wolfe, and I’ve never actually seen zyr except when you all came back from Earth.”

“But you heard about how we rescued zyr,” Ronon said.

John scowled. He frankly couldn’t understand how Wolfe had left his ex or her husband alive back on Earth. He’d have been tempted to exact a little vigilante justice. “Yeah, I did. That poor kid.”

“Zy’s here now, and no way in hell is anyone going to get past Atlantis even if they could get past all the rest of us.”

“Also true,” John agreed, checking his watch. “I gotta go, but you two will get back to me?”

“As soon as we decide for sure one way or the other,” Tony promised.

“Okay.” John activated his comm. “Uh, Atlantis? If you wouldn’t mind putting me in my office, I’d really appreciate it.”

That same disorientation and John was back. He sank into his chair, glad he hadn’t pissed off the Dexes too badly. Now he just had to prepare everything for the mission the next day and make sure he had everything in order so he’d be ready no matter what was decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **23** a moon to the stars: Satedan idiom; to be overcome with joy  
>  **24** anakyta: kysra grandchild; anason/anadaughter/anakyta  
>  **25** twist [someone's] tail: Satedan idiom; to drive [someone] crazy; to annoy beyond endurance


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

_Serreday, Bhaskara 10, First Year of the Returned  
(June 19, 2008)_

Much like the day they’d gone to Verubriga, Ronon was carefully adjusting Tony’s tac vest to fit around zyr chest and the Bump, which was significantly larger than the last time. Tony was patiently letting him, even if it meant zy was already sweating. Due to the reportedly damp and chilly conditions on M7F-652, also known as Win’nala,26 they were wearing more layers than they normally would.

“Why’d you decide to come along?”

“ _Rodney_!” John hissed.

Tony just chuckled as Ronon rolled his eyes and answered, “Because Tony and I talked it through. Maybe we won’t have tons of uses for the fabric here, but there are still some. Plus, we can trade it in Pegasus. It doesn’t have to be something just for Earth.”

“When Starsong goes into ‘flame-on’ mode, she produces a dry heat,” Tony elaborated. “We thought the Lorains would appreciate heat- and flame-resistant clothing, which could mean a lot of aknata meat for us in trade.”

“That is a good reason, a very good reason. You are an awesome ayah to think about my aknata burgers!” Rodney declared. He turned to eye Ronon. “You know I’d do everything I could to protect Tony, right? Even if it meant, you know, something terrible like Wraith happened to me.”

Used to Rodney and Ronon needling each other, the entire room was trying to watch unobtrusively. John actually flinched a little, expecting a barbed reply that would embarrass or otherwise upset Rodney. They were all shocked when Ronon smacked Rodney on the back hard enough to make him stagger and gave him an approving nod.

“I know. You’ll do good.”

Tony scowled at them both. “I don’t want anybody dying or worse to protect me.”

“Shut up,” Rodney retorted as Ronon nudged them toward the door. “You don’t get to be all self-sacrificing, not even for aknata burgers; you don’t get a vote.”

“I think I missed a memo somewhere,” John mused from behind them.

Tony glanced over zyr shoulder, and several members of the other teams were nodding or looking equally confused as they followed John.

When they got to the jumper bay, John reviewed the plan again. Tony assumed he must not be quite as confident about the trip as he’d seemed when they’d talked last night.

“Right. SR-1 is in Jumper 2. Kaptán Mašín, cloak as soon as soon as you’re through the gate. We’re going to get the lay of the land before we decide to set down anywhere. There were reports of possible towers like in our city, so let’s see if we can confirm that before we piss off the locals… _again._

“SR-2, how do you want to split up so we have even numbers in the jumpers?”

“I’ll take Sergeant Lightstone. You take Sminagos27 Tzavaras and Corporal Red Eagle,” Major Rutherford said.

His people had already split themselves between the two teams, which Tony assumed meant they’d anticipated and discussed it previously.

“Good enough.” John adjusted his P90. “Well, pile in. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Tony secured zyrself in zyr seat, then let Ronon double-check everything. Part of what zy and Ronon had agreed was that Tony would go, but zy would let Ronon be insanely overprotective. This wasn’t like going to New Athos or even Verubriga had been: this time they were going into openly hostile territory.

“You’re really hot in your uniform, even with the leather coat over it. Have I mentioned that?” Tony murmured just loud enough for Ronon to hear zyr, leaning over zyr as he was.

Ronon stopped messing with the straps and grinned tightly. “Maybe I’ll let you peel it off me tonight, m’kysra.”

Tony heard dual chortling sounds from behind zyr, and John heaved a sigh that indicated Ronon hadn’t been nearly successful at being quiet.

“Get buckled in, people. We’re dropping into the Gateroom.”

Ronon retreated to the back, and Teyla gave Tony a conspiratorial grin across the aisle, though there was a tightness around her eyes that betrayed the fact that her concern for the missing Athosian farmers wasn't far from her mind. Unfortunately, Atlantis' interrogation of the Bola Kai man hadn't revealed any information about what might have happened to them, and Tony was sure if he'd known anything, Atlantis would've gotten it out of him. Carter and John had authorized fact-finding teams, but none of them had reported any news either.

The jumper settled in front of the gate. John requested and received confirmation from command, and then they were through the gate and enveloped by thick fog.

“What the hell, Rodney?!”

“I don’t know, okay? According to our reports and any records Atlantis has, it’s the local equivalent of 1100 hours, not 2100, which is what it looks like!”

“Jumper 2, this is Jumper 1. Let’s get above this weather.”

“Copy, Jumper 1.”

“Doesn’t do us much good to be invisible if we’re stirring up a trail that shows everybody exactly where we are,” John grumbled under his breath.

Tony leaned forward, as if that would make zyr able to see through the front window any better. John had to be flying by the readouts he was getting because all Tony could see made zyr feel like zy was inside a tin can in the middle of a cotton ball.

“Jeez, if I’d known it was going to be like this, I never would’ve made you watch _The Fog_ with me last Gaussday, Rodney.”

“Oh, you think?!” Rodney squawked indignantly. “I just want you to know that if this place is full of the undead from a leper ship, I’m blaming you!”

“I’m sorry. I afraid I don’t understand,” Teyla said.

“It’s a movie,” Tony told her. “It’s a John Carpenter film from early 1980 starring Adrienne Barbeau and Jamie Lee Curtis. The story is that a rich guy who’d contracted leprosy—which is a highly-contagious disease that…. You know what? Let’s just leave it at that: a highly-contagious disease that does bad things and eventually kills. Horribly. Anyway, the rich guy bought a ship and sailed off with a bunch of other lepers to start a leper colony, a place for them to live without infecting anyone else. They were intentionally misguided by the people of this town, which led to the ship crashing into the rocks. They all died, of course.”

“Of course,” she echoed faintly.

“So the movie starts a hundred years later to the day. That night, the fog starts to roll in from the sea, and it brings with it all the undead lepers who start killing everybody. The fog is so thick that people don’t know they’re about to die until it’s too late.”

“It looked a lot like this,” Rodney added sourly.

“Well, that sounds awful and like nothing I ever want to watch. Teyla, could you please hold any further questions until we’re home in beautiful, _sunny_ Atlantis?”

“Certainly, Colonel. I believe that is a good idea,” she replied, staring out the front of the jumper at the fog, which somehow seemed less cotton ball and more harbinger of death, even to Tony.

“Thank you. Rodney, find us somewhere without the fog, please.”

“There isn’t anywhere, at least not anywhere with lifesigns.”

“You’ve never been here, Ronon?”

“Nope,” Ronon replied from where he’d moved to one knee beside Tony’s chair. “Would’a told you if I had.”

“Alright. Dexes, this is going to be your call,” John said with a backward glance at Tony. “We can head back—no harm, no foul.”

“Rodney, start talking about whatever you’re seeing so Ronon and I can have a little chat.”

“What?”

“Just talk, Rodney.”

Rodney made a rude noise, then retorted, “Well, I see that the continent is vaguely shaped like a dick with really big balls, is that what you mean?”

“That’s perfect,” Tony snorted, along with the guys from Rutherford’s team.

“Fine. There’s also a weird electrical charge, but it seems pretty steady. Hey, I wonder if that’s why the plant fiber is non-conductive—”

Tony shifted in the seat so zy could see Ronon’s face and raised an expectant eyebrow. “You hate the idea of staying,” zy murmured.

“Yeah,” he admitted.

“But if this is just the way the planet is now, leaving and coming back later won’t do us any good.” Tony hmm’d. “The report said these people don’t have projectile weapons, right?”

Ronon grunted an affirmative.

“So if we have LSDs, projectile weapons, your particle gun, and you being your badass self, we might have more of an advantage in the fog than we would in bright daylight.”

“Maybe, but these people know their land. We’d be fumbling around trying not to break our necks or get eaten by a wild animal.”

Tony winced. “Okay, good point. I don’t have a burning desire to fall in a pit and break something, even if Atlantis can repair me when we get home. I definitely don’t have any desire to be supper for something roaming around on the surface. Or under the surface. Or above.”

“The planet can’t have changed that much in just a few months. There have to be better days to come.”

“Also a good point. So we’ll try again?”

“Not to butt in on your little tête-à-tête,” John interrupted in such a casual voice that it immediately set off alarm bells for Tony, “but we’re heading back. Rodney’s getting some weird readings, and the HUD is acting a little funny.”

Ronon and Tony exchanged glances. A little funny? Zy was pretty sure that was John-speak for “we’re all fucked.”

“I’ll get buckled in.”

Tony just nodded.

“Jumper 1 to Jumper 2. Abort the mission. Let’s get back home.”

There was silence.

“Jumper 1 to Jumper 2. Do you copy?”

John was frowning. Rodney started typing frantically on his computer.

“Jumper 1 to Jumper 2. Please respond.”

The reply, when it came, was garbled and static like never happened in Pegasus.

“Jump—ific—ion—sto—land.”

Lightning began to strike suddenly all around them. The strikes were so numerous and close that they filled the front screen and lit up the interior of the jumper.

“Rodney!”

“I don’t know; I don’t know! This isn’t possible! It’s not possible for an electrical storm of this magnitude to just form out of nowhere!”

“And yet it did!” John dodged another bolt of lightning, then immediately had to evade four more.

“Are we close enough to dial the gate?” John demanded.

More than a little hysterical, Rodney shouted back, “No! Even if we were, there’s no guarantee they’d receive our IDC, and I’d really rather not be splattered into my subatomic particles, today!”

“Then we’re going to have to land. Can you tell if we’re going to land on top of a village?”

“Go 98 kilometers east—no, starboard. I said _starboard_!”

Tony sat back and gripped the arms of zyr chair. The way John was dodging and weaving was worse than trying to avoid Michigan’s defensive line. It was certainly more nerve-wracking. Zy tried to tune out John and Rodney’s back-and-forth squabbling, since it seemed to be helping both of them deal with the situation.

A hand touched zyr arm, and zy jerked zyr head to look at Teyla.

“It will be fine,” she said, trying to reassure zyr. “We have been in much worse situations and come out unscathed. The Colonel and Dr. McKay sometimes appear to communicate best this way when they are anxious.”

“That’s exactly what I was just thinking, but good to hear” Tony admitted with a wan smile, which Teyla returned.

“Look out!” Rodney yelled.

Unable to avoid all the lightning that time, the jumper took a glancing blow that sent it into a dizzying spin.

“Took out the left—”

Tony closed zyr eyes and swallowed, telling zyr stomach that it didn’t matter what they were doing because zy couldn’t really feel it. Thank the Old Ones the inertial dampeners were working.

_“Hang on!”_

John’s warning came just before they crashed through a number of trees and hit the ground hard, rolling at least three times before they came to a stop. Miraculously, they were right-side-up.

Tony opened zyr eyes to see the front window of the jumper had cracked, which zy assumed meant they hadn’t had any shields by the time they’d decided to play Humpty Dumpty.

“Everybody okay?” John called out, turning his chair around so he could see them in the dimness of the emergency lights around the cabin. Other than those, the entire puddle jumper appeared to be DOA.28

Various people announced that they were fine before Tony managed to get zyr tongue unstuck from the roof of zyr mouth.

“Tony?” Rodney demanded, his voice shaky.

Zy blinked, and Ronon was kneeling in front of zyr.

“M’kysra?”

Tony blinked rapidly and took a deep breath.

“Well, that’s just it,” zy managed to choke out, zyr voice strangely raspy. “I’m calling Disneyland and reporting you because this ride _sucks_.”

“I am uncertain if that means zy is alright,” zy heard Teyla say to someone.

“It’s a joke, so I think zy’s okay,” John told her quietly.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Tony said, forcing zyr fingers to release their death-grip on zyr seat. “A little shaken, not stirred.”

“Rodney, see what you can do to get communications back online,” John ordered.

“Already on it,” he snapped from the floor between the co-pilot’s chair and the instrument panel. That probably wasn’t what it was called, but Tony didn’t particularly care at the moment.

Ronon helped Tony undo the jumper’s version of a seatbelt, and then helped zyr to zyr feet. Zy was a little proud of zyrself for not having puked or crapped zyr pants. The others might be used to that sort of crazy landing, but zy wasn’t. It hadn’t been as bad as getting shoved out of an airplane when zy didn’t know how to parachute, but zy didn’t want to repeat the experience any time soon.

The emergency lights flickered, then went out. At the same time, the back hatch opened.

“Shit.”

Tony didn’t know which of Rutherford’s guys said it, but zy agreed. In the flashes of ongoing dry-lightning through the fog, zy could make out what looked like zombies heading toward the downed jumper.

_“Rodneeeey!”_

“It wasn’t me! Think it closed!” Rodney shrieked. “Hurry up, think it closed!”

Through gritted teeth, John snarled, “I’m _trying._ ”

_“Try harder!”_

Ronon pushed Tony back against the co-pilot’s seat and stood in front of zyr. Zy was happy to let him.

“Swear to the Old Ones, no more zombie movies. Some Carey Grant, a little Marlon Brando, maybe even some George Clooney—except _From Dusk Till Dawn_. No more zombies, vampires, apocalypses, or space disasters.”

John had moved to the back of the jumper and shouted to whoever was out there, “Hey there, folks. I’m sure you can tell, we had a little accident. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as we get it fixed.”

There was a distinctly unfriendly response, and the interior of the jumper took on an orange hue as the locals lit up their flamethrower-like weapons, streams of flames shooting into the air and dripping back down like molten lava.

Ronon looked over his shoulder at Tony. “Trust me?”

“Always.” Tony didn’t even have to think about it.

“’kay.”

Ronon strode forward to stand beside John.

“Hear me!” he roared. “I am Ronon of Sateda. I seek shelter for me, my meraska and kyta, and our protectors.”

“He lies!”

“Sateda is gone!”

“Liar!”

“You’re a liar!”

“Seize them!”

The mob started to whip themselves into a frenzy. Tony wanted Ronon back beside zyr, not standing out there making a target of himself.

“They seek to trick us!”

“Liar!”

“Let him prove it!” someone finally yelled.

“Halt!” Ronon bellowed. “If you harm so much as my meraska’s smallest toe, I will kill you all, even if I have to have the Old Ones bring me back to life over and over for a thousand years to see it done!”

He held out a hand behind him, so Tony went forward, hoping Ronon wouldn’t be petitioning the Old Ones for anything in the near future.

Zy stepped to the very edge of the jumper and took Ronon’s hand. Ozone was so thick and heavy in the air, along with the stench of hot metal, that zy had to choke down a cough. Zy noticed that the lightning seemed to be striking in the same general area for the most part, but zy didn’t want to step past the opening to verify that for zyrself. The fog was so thick that just standing at the opening, zy was instantly covered with tiny drops of condensation.

“Unzip your vest. Show them the Bump,” he murmured, barely moving his lips.

Only Tony was close enough to see the fear in Ronon’s eyes—not fear for himself, but for zyr.

Zy did as Ronon asked, unzipping the vest and zyr coat, then pulling zyr shirts out of zyr pants, pushing them above the Bump. Zy turned slightly to the side, since zy didn’t think they’d be able to tell much from the front and how far away they were. Not that zy wanted them any closer. Tony was just lucky zy tended toward the more male-appearing side of the kysra spectrum. If zy looked more like Jae, it wouldn't be so obvious that zy was a pregnant kysra, not a pregnant female.

The mob started whispering so loudly to one another that it sounded like the susurrations of a thousand angry leaves.

Tony was shivering already, so zy lowered zyr shirts and tucked them hastily into zyr pants, zipping the coat and zyr tac vest closed again over the top.

The flamethrowers went out.

A lone, gaunt woman stepped forward from the mob. Tony controlled an instinctive desire to flinch away from someone who looked like she was a ghost come to life. Whatever the Win’nala had, they certainly didn’t make many good trades, not if all their people were so emaciated.

“We sent for the Lan’nau when we saw your vessel crash,” she said. “We above cannot make offers of shelter, not even to a kysra.”

“Fine,” Ronon replied. “Then leave us in our vessel. We won’t bother you if you don’t attack us.” Lowering his voice again, he murmured to Tony, “Go back inside. You know where the emergency blankets are.”

“I’ll go, but don’t you dare go anywhere without me.”

“I’ll watch him,” John offered. “I’ll kick his ass back there with you at the least sign of stupidity or heroics.”

Tony shot John a fierce look. “You better.”

“I gotta tell Sheppard what I think will happen when their leader comes out so we stand together.” To John, Ronon said, “Sorry about barging in, but I figured this was our best chance at not having them try to kill us and maybe getting shelter until the storm passes.”

Tony left the two discussing strategies while they watched for the locals’ return.

“Would you like me to find you a blanket, Tony?” Teyla asked.

“No, thanks. I’d rather not be covered by one of those in an electrical storm. I don’t know if Mylar is conductive. I always meant to look that up, but I don’t want to find out through trial-and-error now,” Tony said, denying the offer as well as her attempt to get zyr to sit down. “You okay, Rodney?”

“No, I can’t fix this! It’s fried. It’s all completely fried! My computer won’t even turn on. The LSDs are no good in this electrical storm either!”

“Then come here and hug me. I could use one, but Ronon’s back there by the hatch.”

Zy didn’t really think Rodney would do it in front of so many people. Zy’d said it more to get him to calm down than anything.

Rodney snapped and snarled, and Tony let him get it out of his system because it wouldn’t do any good to try to stop him. Instead, zy waited until he’d stood up and stepped carefully toward him. Zy opened zyr mouth to say something but had to wait, since Rodney had grabbed onto zyr. It wasn’t quite a hug, but he was definitely hanging onto zyr.

“It’s going to be okay,” Tony murmured eventually.

“I can’t get us out of here, and I don’t want you to get hurt!” he protested. “You can’t know we’ll be okay!”

“Of course I can,” Tony scolded him gently. “I’m the magical Pegasus unicorn. I fart rainbows and ooze sunlight from my very pores. Of course it’s going to be alright with me here!”

“Are you kidding me?” Rodney demanded, glaring at zyr. “Well, you’re doing a crap job of oozing sunlight right now, let me tell you. As for farting rainbows, I have been around after you’ve had that three-bean salad you eat lately the way normal people eat chocolate or drink coffee. Those were _not_ rainbows! If you thought they were, you are seriously, _horrifically_ misguided. I don’t know what rainbows smell like, but I know it can’t be anything like _that_.”

The guy with the Greek name Tony couldn’t remember and Red Eagle looked like they were about to suffocate from trying not to laugh. Teyla merely sighed, well used to Rodney’s forthright manner and lack of censor.

“It’s okay, guys. You can laugh. Ronon does all the time. John and Teyla give us resigned looks, kind of like they’re doing right now.”

“Save it,” John snapped. “We’ve got more company.”

They all watched soberly as the hazy, indistinct group drew close enough to almost be able to make out figures. From the way Ronon was fingering his particle magnum and everyone else had their P90s ready to go, it was closer than any of them would’ve preferred. It was too close for Tony’s comfort too, and zy and Rodney got their own P90s strapped on and ready.

“Welcome, travelers!” A well-built if not very tall man greeted them, happy in a way that struck Tony as inappropriate for the situation. “I understand you seek shelter. Come, come! We will go below and get out of the storm and chill.”

The new group, like the others, wore what looked like fairly standard leather trousers. Unlike the others, who’d had only hooded capes or blankets draped over their gaunt forms, these people were wrapped from head to waist in thick material that then split in front and back and trailed almost to their ankles. Tony thought it had to be fabric made from the stuff they’d come to trade for. Even in the dim and flickering light from the storm, zy could tell none of the group was carrying any extra weight, but they also didn’t have the malnourished look of their kinsmen.

“What promise of security for me and mine do you offer?” Ronon shouted, his and John’s bodies angled to block the interior of the jumper as much as possible. “We could weather this storm here and return to our home when it’s over.”

The man’s chuckle made a frisson of anxiety run down Tony’s spine.

“You must indeed be travelers from afar if you don’t know the _ban’nisit_29 storms will not end for at least a day.”

Unmoved, Ronon told him, “We’d be fine where we are for a lot longer than that.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not, traveler. There are predators that will come out at night, storm or no.”

“We can defend ourselves.”

“And your kysra?”

“Can defend zyrself. Zy is no weakling, nor is zy a coward,” Ronon retorted, an unspoken warning in his voice.

The Lan’nau raised both gloved hands and offered a false smile. “Apologies, traveler. I meant no offense; I was merely concerned.”

Ronon snapped, “Then offer us the rights of honored guests. Offer me and mine shelter and protection. If you don’t, then perhaps I’ll let my meraska declare you our enemies. The Five will deal with you then.”

Tony held zyr breath, hoping Ronon’s bluff worked.

“No! No need for such drastic measures, honored one!” the Lan’nau gasped and backpedaled immediately. “No, no need at all! I, Lan’nau of all Win’nala, offer you and yours the rights of honored guests. You shall have all the comforts we can provide, and you shall be as safe as any of us can be!”

Ronon grunted. “And how will you lead us to safety in these storms?”

“Ah, yes. Of course.” The Lan’nau twisted at the waist and clapped his gloved hands twice.

People dressed like the first, poorer group had been, and carrying heavy armfuls of cloth emerged from the fog behind their leader, startling Tony. Zy hadn’t seen them at all because of the dense fog. They hurried toward the jumper until Ronon raised his gun, priming and aiming it all in a single, quick movement.

“Stop!”

They obeyed, frozen in place by that single word.

“You,” Ronon pointed at one of them. “Approach. Do it slowly.”

Eyes wide with fear, the person chosen obeyed. Once he reached the top of the ramp, Ronon pulled him in with his free hand and pushed him toward Rutherford’s guys.

“Inspect it.”

“Cl-clo-cloaks, honored,” the man stuttered. “Cloaks and wr-wraps.”

“Well?” John demanded when they’d been through it all.

“Cloaks and strips of cloth, sir,” Red Eagle said.

John turned to the man who’d brought it up. “This will protect us from the storm?”

“Yes, honored ones. Cover all except your face.”

“Alright. Go back and send the next one in,” Ronon instructed.

The next person brought all her clothes, then the next and the next until it seemed like they had a jumper full of the stuff.

“Step back, all of you. Farther,” Ronon ordered until finally grunting when he’d determined they were far enough away from the jumper.

The Win’nala waited there while Tony and zyr group each dressed in the cloaks and strips of cloth, which they wound around their heads like turbans, since that was what the Lan’nau and his little entourage were wearing.

“Okay?” Ronon asked Tony softly.

“I feel a little like a harem girl, but I’m oddly okay with that if it means I’m not going to get struck by lightning.”

“Dance for me later?”

Tony did a double-take. “How do you even know what a harem girl is?”

“I know all Earth’s important stuff.”

“Everybody ready?” John called into the jumper.

He’d been the first one finished and had kept an eye on the entrance and the Win’nala while the rest of them got ready.

“Yep. Let’s go,” Ronon said, taking Tony’s hand.

Tony raised zyr eyebrows, surprisingly difficult when wearing a turban. “No Tony in the middle this time?”

“Yes, Tony in the middle,” Rodney countered. “Tony and Rodney in the middle, thank you very much.”

“Teyla up front with me, our two friends behind Tony and Rodney, and Ronon watching our backs.”

“Yes, sir,” the Red Eagle and the Greek guy acknowledged. Neither looked surprised.

Dammit. Tony was going to remember his name if it was the last thing zy did. Zy’d just heard it not that long ago. Zy knew it had a T at the start and a V or a Z somewhere in the middle. Possibly both. Pregnancy brain sucked.

They walked out of the jumper, and immediately Tony’s skin prickled with cold and with the sheer amount of electricity in the air. If zy’d had body hair, it would’ve been standing straight up. Zy didn't want to know what zyr hair was going to look like after zy took off the turban thing.

“Good, good! We go this way, to the below. That is where my family and I dwell, especially during the storms,” the Lan’nau said, still smiling.

It was creepy and irritating; Tony thought the man should go do his commercial for Crest whitestrips or whatever he was aiming for, then come back never.

Zy was grateful that zy hadn’t given up running. The pace the Lan’nau and his group set was just short of a jog, but zy couldn’t object when the fog and lightning seemed to be getting worse, which zy hadn’t thought was possible. The ground was being struck close enough to them that it made Tony’s fingers and toes tingle. Zy could barely see John and Teyla in front of zyr, and it didn’t help that zyr brain automatically flipped through every single movie zy’d seen that zy could remember with a fog scene. Zy sincerely regretted _The Shining, The Exorcist, The Others, The Mist, Silent Hill…._ The list kept going on and on.

Zy didn’t realize zy was reciting the list out loud until, “Maybe you should stay away from horror movies for a while,” was suggested from behind zyr in a slight twang, one not nearly as thick as Grant’s. “Try some Disney or Pixar.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember _Pocahontas_? Mel Gibson was the voice for John Smith, and he first meets Pocahontas, voiced by Irene Bedard, and nearly kills her in a fog.”

“That movie was a nightmare, but it didn’t have anything to do with the fog,” Red Eagle grumbled in disgust. “Walt Disney: distorting history one move at a time.”

“Bunch up.”

That was Ronon’s voice, and Tony was grateful to hear it. Not being able to see zyr husband even though he couldn’t be far behind them only added to the already-disturbing nature of the trek.

“No point in formation when we can’t see for shit,” he added tersely.

Tony wasn’t going to complain about getting closer to John and Teyla or having the others nearly on zyr heels. Zyr mind had been playing tricks on zyr, making zyr think zy’d seen creatures, ghosts, or other people out of the corner of zyr eye for what felt like miles, though it couldn’t have been. The fog was distorting zyr sense of time along with everything else.

Various times throughout their journey, John or one of the others would try to hail the other team on their radios, but they received no response. Tony hoped it was only the storm interfering, since it wasn’t like they could go searching for them. The Lan’nau had sworn that if any of his people found the others, they’d be brought to the village as well, but Tony didn’t trust him.

“Here we are,” the Lan’nau announced after another tense mile or so.

Tony had no idea where ‘here’ was until they were suddenly in a tiny village. There was still the ubiquitous fog and lightning, but zy could also see fires lit in a circle around the perimeter of the village. There were more fires within the village itself, which made it less difficult to see the tents made of leather and covered in the same material as their capes and wraps. The tops of the tents sloped to force the condensation to drip into containers strategically placed on the ground.

It made Tony wonder if they were going through a drought, or if water was that scarce on the planet. If it was, then how did they water their crops?

Tony wasn’t surprised to see an obvious lack of anything metal or conductive. Zy had been extremely careful to keep everything metal—including zyr P90—well-covered on their trek through the countryside.

“Get ready, Rainbow Bright,” John muttered from the corner of his mouth, much to Tony’s amusement.

Sure enough, the Lan’nau focused on Tony.

“Welcome, honored guests!” he proclaimed in a voice that would’ve done a circus ringmaster proud. He reached toward Tony. “Welcome, honored kysra!”

“Don’t touch my meraska,” Ronon snarled, causing the Lan’nau and all the gathered villagers to step back. “I don’t like it when anybody touches zyr.”

Another time, Tony might have been annoyed by Ronon’s high-handedness. In the present situation, zy didn’t mind a bit. Zy preferred to have Ronon intimidate the crap out of everyone rather than have the creepy Lan’nau—or anyone else—touch zyr.

“Of course, of course,” his smile became rather strained. “Well, these are the ones who live above. Please, follow me, and I’ll introduce you to my family.”

_More walking. Yay,_ Tony thought sarcastically. Zy kept zyr thoughts to zyrself, though. Creepy or not, the Lan’nau had power on that planet, and zy wasn’t going to piss him off on purpose.

The Lan’nau led them through the village, and Tony suspected he was taking the long way around so he could parade zyr in front of all his people. It was a dick move, especially when the air still snapped with electricity and lightning struck the ground regularly, though strangely not within the village itself. That was something to be thankful for, zy supposed.

At the back of the village stood a copse of trees. It seemed perfectly normal until the Lan’nau disappeared between two massive cottonwood-like trees. His small group all followed him without hesitation.

“Hold,” John ordered unnecessarily. They’d all stopped the second they saw the man disappear.

The Lan’nau’s head poked back out, his body still invisible, as if he was leaning out a doorway.

“Is there a problem?” he asked, confused.

“Well, you disappeared. It seemed kind of odd to us,” John drawled.

The Lan’nau laughed and returned to their side of the barrier and spun in a circle, making his cloak flare around him.

“You see? I am well. This is a security measure to protect us.”

“Show me,” John ordered. “The rest of you wait here.”

The Lan’nau laughed again. “Very well.”

John followed him through. It was a tense few seconds until he returned.

“Okay, it’s safe, but be aware that some of you will feel a little… _odd_.”

“Alteran?” Ronon asked.

“Seems probable, but it feels weird, like I said.”

They stuck close together, Ronon actually grabbing Tony’s elbow as they went through the barrier. Blinking in the sudden brightness, Tony took in the very familiar architecture and instantly understood what John meant by feeling odd. Zy could sense there was a mental component, but it felt nothing like Atlantis. She was warm, affectionate, and almost motherly in Tony’s mind. Whatever its origin, this place was definitely not. It wasn’t alive, which would’ve made it strange feeling enough, but there was also the sense that something was observing them dispassionately, almost like a computer constantly checking for new code or commands, or like knowing zy was wired for surveillance.

Tony saw Rodney actually flinch when he came through. Zy was pretty sure zy had too, and not just from the brightness.

“Oh, you can sense the presence, then?”

“We’ve seen similar places, Lan’nau,” John said, then distracted him by asking, “Is that the proper thing to call you? I didn’t catch your name.”

“Apologies, honored. Yes, I am Lan’nau, as each Lan’nau has been before me. Would you honor me with your names?”

“I’m Colonel Sheppard, this is Teyla, McKay, and Ronon of Sateda—” he paused, and Ronon gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “—the Kysra of Sateda, Tzavaras, and Red Eagle.”

“Many thanks, Colonel Sheppard. Is that also a title?”

“Colonel is my title. I’m the leader of the Kysra’s protectors,” John confirmed.

“So Lan’nau is title and your name?” Tony clarified.

“Yes, just so, honored Kysra. When one takes the position of Lan’nau, he leaves behind his old self and becomes Lan’nau.” He looked at their group and frowned. “Apologies again, honored. Please, come with me. I’ll see you to rooms where you can change into dry clothing.”

“We prefer to be in the same room,” John immediately stated.

Lan’nau sucked in a shocked breath and pressed both hands to his chest over his heart. “Surely not the honored Kysra of Sateda! It is said to look upon one such as zy and not be zyr chosen is to be cursed!”

“Well, obviously not the Kysra and zyr husband,” John improvised. “The rest of us guard the honored Kysra and Ronon.”

Lan’nau’s shoulders sagged in relief. “I see, and it is well.”

He moved to a wall and touched his palm to it. A screen appeared, and the man touched a variety of locations before settling on the last one. When he stepped back, the screen disappeared. He smiled again, doing his best impression of a toothpaste commercial.

“I believe I have just the thing. Come, come.”

They passed through two corridors before coming to a door. When the door opened, it revealed a short corridor with three doors: two directly opposite each other, and one opposite the primary door.

Lan’nau touched all three doors, making them open with a barely audible hiss.

“These two you may leave open so that you may guard honored Kysra and honored Ronon of Sateda. This last is for you, protectors of the honored ones. There are small chambers for the necessary attached to each room.”

The rooms were simple. The one offered to Tony and Ronon was about half the size of the others and had a medium sized wardrobe, a desk, two blocky chairs, and a bed similar in size to a full-size bed back on Earth. The other two rooms had single beds on three sides and small dressers at the foot of each bed. It turned out that "chambers for the necessary" were small bathrooms attached to each room.

It reminded Tony of being back on the _Apollo_ with Aaron.

“Is it adequate?”

“Yes, thank you, Lan’nau,” John said. “This will do quite nicely.”

“Good, good,” Lan’nau smiled that same, creepy smile and clapped his hands. “Now, I must change as well. I will send an unsworn servant with clothing. The clothing is a gift to you, the servant also, if it pleases you, honored ones!”

What the fuck did _that_ mean? It had better not mean what Tony was thinking it must. Teyla’s lack of expression and Ronon’s clenched jaw meant Tony’s first guess was likely correct.

John smiled the same way Tony used to when zy was greeting some asshole Admiral zy couldn’t afford to piss off. Kind of the way Tony smiled at Woolsey when they happened to cross paths in Atlantis. “Thank you. We appreciate your generosity.”

“Good, good!”

It was a relief the primary door closed behind the man. His weird combination of arrogance, rudeness, and obsequiousness made Tony want to do more than just change zyr clothes. Zy wanted to be back home in zyr huge shower, washing off the itch. Preferably with Ronon to wash zyr back.

“Right. Somebody help me get these wrap things off. I’m pretty sure I’m soaked all the way to my boxers,” Rodney announced. “You’d think fog wouldn’t be as bad as rain, but no. I’m wet, cold, tired, and I want to go home.”

“Get the stuff they brought us off, then we’ll see what we have to choose from when the, uh, servant arrives,” John said, reaching to help Rodney get his turban off. “It can’t be more than sixty degrees in here, and we’re all going to be in trouble if we don’t get dry.”

By the time they were down to their uniforms, the servant arrived. The young woman was dressed like the people outside and had the same unhealthy gauntness to her face and body, confirming there was a class division between those who lived in the Alteran structure and those who lived outside.

It made sense, in a horrible sort of way. Those outside, or above, as Lan’nau called it, would be the ones the Wraith culled. Those inside or below were the ones less likely to die a horrible death, unless someone from outside ratted them out. Tony hadn’t seen any kind of guard, but they must have one to keep the above people from running below when the Wraith came.

Tony looked at the servant more closely and revised zyr estimate of her age. She had to be closer to Aaron’s age, perhaps a little older, and she was so terrified she was trembling.

“Hello,” Teyla moved forward to greet her with a gentle, calming smile. “I am Teyla. I see you have brought us a great deal. Would you allow me to assist you?”

The girl swallowed and managed to say, “For the honored Kysra and zyr protectors.”

“Thank you,” Teyla said, taking some of the very heavy stack. “Colonel, if you would not mind?”

Between John and Teyla, they got the clothing divided up with the servant helping them figure out which pieces went to which person.

Teyla took the young woman with her, saying she wanted to be sure she got all the pieces put on correctly, and closed the door behind them.

“Sir, do I understand right? That girl is a _slave?”_ Tzavaras hissed in outrage.

“Probably,” John replied grimly. “It’s not something we run into a whole lot, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen it either.”

“We’re not just going to leave her here, are we, sir?” Tzavaras asked, his dark, heavy brows furrowed. “The way that man spoke, it sounded as though he was giving us the girl and the clothing.”

“We’ll figure it out. For now, let’s get dry. Ronon, you two good with that room?”

Having just returned from checking out the room he and Tony had been assigned, Ronon shrugged. “Seems fine, but no way to tell if we’re being monitored.”

At Tony’s raised eyebrow, John explained, “SOP30 is to assume the rooms are bugged unless we can prove otherwise. Since our equipment is fried….”

“Got it.”

Tony was glad zy and Ronon got to change in apparent private. It wasn’t like zy hadn’t changed in front of the guys before they came on the mission, but zy was feeling especially aware of zyr baby bump after being trotted around for all the Win’nala earlier.

“Why the hell is everything so cold here?” Tony complained, shivering as zy pulled on the pants they’d been sent.

They were made of the same material as the cloaks and the head wraps were. The ones Tony ended up with were dark grey and they were incredibly soft against zyr skin. Zy realized that they’d somehow been lined with a layer that felt like very thin, ultra-soft flannel. The fly laced up like a lot of Ronon’s Pegasus trousers, which meant Tony didn’t have to worry about the waist being too tight or falling off. The last thing zy needed was to accidentally flash somebody.

The knee-length, sage green tunic didn’t have buttons, but it did have clasps that were similar to a hook-and-eye. It took some fiddling, and zy got it crooked and had to restart once, but it was worth it in the end. It was lined the same as the pants, and the sleeves were long enough to cover Tony’s hand to the middle joint of zyr longest finger. It would be easy to pull them over zyr hands entirely when zyr fingers were cold, which would probably be the entire time zy was on the planet. Zy thought Johns estimate of sixty degrees rather generous. Zy would’ve said about fifty.

“How wet are your socks?” Ronon asked.

“They’re not, actually,” zy replied. “I’ll look crazy in these pajamas and my boots, but at least I’ll be warm.”

Ronon snorted, but zy noticed he didn’t disagree. His clothes fit, but just barely. It was obvious the clothing hadn’t been made for someone of Ronon’s height and muscle mass. The tunic ended above mid-thigh instead of well below, as Tony’s did. Any wrong move, and the seams on its upper arms were going to be history, the same for the seams on either side of Ronon’s thighs. It wasn’t a bad look for him, but Tony didn’t care to share zyr husband’s awesome body with random strangers.

Deciding it was as good as they were going to get, Tony and Ronon met the others in the corridor.

“I’m wearing pajamas with combat boots!” Rodney immediately complained to Tony while finishing up with the clasps on his silvery blue tunic.

Zy laughed lightly, “That’s exactly what I said, but you’re dry and warmer, right?” At Rodney’s grumbled agreement, Tony patted him on the back. “See? That’s the spirit!”

Another servant was waiting for them in the main corridor outside their sort-of suite of rooms. A little older and less terrified, he led them all to a dining hall where they were subjected to Lan’nau, his wives and husband, and what had to be the entire rest of the below population and all their servants. At least they were all in the same pajama-like clothing, though many of them had decorated theirs with jewels, beads, and painted images, making them look more like a traditional Chinese chángshān.

The only good part about the whole thing was that with that many people in one room, Tony got warm enough to stop shivering. The bad part was that half way through the meal, zyr body just wanted to sleep. Zy did zyr best to suck it up, though, because John and Teyla had managed to maneuver the conversation to trade and finding out what it would take to get a substantial amount of the fabric. From what zy could tell, Rodney was talking with some scientist and discussing something that sounded like a ZPM to Tony. Whatever it was, that was what kept the ‘below’ invisible.

“Apologies.”

Ronon’s voice made Tony jump. Zy suddenly realized zy had been leaning against Ronon, zyr eyelids drifting closed for longer and longer periods.

“Apologies, Lan’nau, everyone. My meraska has had a very long day and needs to rest.”

“Of course, of course!” Lan’nau agreed immediately. He clapped his hands, and the same young woman who’d brought them the clothing darted forward from where she’d been waiting against a back wall to lead them back to the room.

“Tzavaras, you look wiped out. Red Eagle, you too,” John ordered rather than said. “You’ll head back with Ronon and the Kysra.”

Tony privately thought Tzavaras’ eyes had been glazed over in boredom. He’d gotten stuck next to a woman who’d been droning on and on about the exact mixtures required to create certain colors of paint for the Win’nala clothing. Tony was grateful zy had been sandwiched between Ronon and Rodney and hadn’t been forced to do much talking at all. The Win’nala mostly just stared, which was annoying but better than having to talk to them. As tired as zy was, zy had no doubt zy’d have put zyr foot in zyr mouth sooner rather than later.

Back in their room, Ronon attempted to push the low bed to one side of the room so he could lie on the outside and between Tony and the door, but the bed wouldn’t budge. It was somehow anchored to the floor itself, though neither of them could see how.

“Look, let’s just get in bed before I freeze my ass off. Red Eagle and Tzavaras are out there guarding us.”

Ronon wasn’t happy about it, but he eventually agreed.

They crawled into bed beneath a thick pile of blankets that were soft and lined with the same flannel as the clothing. Even better, they had the potential to be _warm_.

“Turn your back to me, m’kysra. If your back is warm, your body will start working on the rest.”

“That sounds fantastic,” Tony agreed, happily curling up in Ronon’s arms, zyr back pressed tight to his front.

Tony must have dozed off, despite zyr feet being cold even with zyr socks and tucking them against Ronon’s shins.

The door slid open, almost silent in its track. That small sound was enough to wake zyr. Tony knew from how rigid Ronon was behind zyr that he was also awake. They both waited silently to see who or what would come in the open door.

Ronon was the first to spot him, of course.

“Think it’s a little one,” he breathed barely loud enough for Tony to make out the words.

Sure enough, a tiny, thin hand came around the open door frame. A small face peered around the frame shortly after. When no movement came from Ronon or Tony, the figure—a toddler, Tony thought—slipped into the room, hugging the door frame and then the walls as he made his way toward the bed. He dropped to his hands and knees about half way when there was no more inner wall to cling to.

Tony had to wonder how the hell the toddler had gotten past the guys and into their room. How had he even known where to find them? The only thing that made sense was if the servant assigned to them had snuck him in somehow. What zy couldn’t figure out was why. Was the toddler was curious? Zy didn’t think that made sense. From what Tony could glimpse of him in the darkness of the room, he was practically a baby. Even considering the more slender build of the Win’nala Tony had seen, the kid was too young to care about anything but his family and his next meal.

Tony tracked crawling sounds past the foot of the bed until the little one reached the side. It happened to be the side Tony was facing, so zy saw fragile little hands come up and grip the mattress. Like a turtle extending its head out of its shell, a wide-eyed face rose above the edge of the mattress. Still on his knees, the child reached out hesitantly, then gasped and jerked his hand back when the door to the room closed with a soft _snick._ The face dropped out of sight.

Ronon tensed again, but Tony pressed firmly on his hand where it was cupped protectively over their kyta. Zy knew Ronon wouldn’t hurt their visitor, but zy wanted to see what happened, and a huge man like Tony’s husband getting out of bed would freak out the tiny kid and send him running.

By Tony’s count, a minute went by, then two before the face reappeared. Tony watched from beneath zyr lashes as the little hand reached out again ever so slowly before finally touching the blanket over Tony’s hand.

Up close, the kid was cute, but obviously different from the Win’nala. There was some variation, of course, but most of the Win’nala Tony had seen had brown hair and dark eyes. Their skin tones spanned the human range, but the child was unusually pale. Tony couldn’t tell his eye color, but his skin and the short, tight curls on his head appeared to be as white as the light from Sateda’s moons.

“Hello,” Tony whispered.

The toddler snapped his hand back and held it tightly to his chest as if he’d barely escaped losing it.

“Hi,” he finally whispered.

The child didn’t run, but Tony could hear from his shallow, fast breaths that he was afraid.

“Are you lost?”

He shook his head, sucking in his bottom lip.

“I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be in bed right now.”

A nod, then he looked down to where his fingers were again practically strangling the blankets.

“Hmm….” Tony got an idea. “Well, I don’t normally have conversations in bed with people before I know their names. My name is Tony. What’s yours?”

Warm puffs against zyr neck let Tony know zyr husband was amused.

Wide eyes fixed on Tony’s face. “Naver,” the toddler finally whispered. It sounded more like nah-WEAR, but Tony figured that meant either nah-VAIR or nah-BEAR.

“Naver,” Tony repeated, still whispering. It somehow felt like it would be wrong to speak any louder despite knowing all three of them were awake. “So, Naver, if you’re not lost, but you should be in bed, can you tell me why you came to visit us tonight?”

There was another short silence while the child appeared to be thinking about his answer. He stood slowly.

“Kissah?” his whispered, eyes wide with fear.

It took Tony a second, but zy realized what the boy was asking.

“Yes, I’m kysra. Is that important to you?” What would make a toddler so desperate to know if Tony was a kysra that he was willing to go on a nighttime trek to find out? 

The boy nodded vigorously. “Wike beebee?” He paused and concentrated, whispering. “Kissa ha' beebee?”

“Not yet,” Tony murmured, smiling softly. “My baby isn’t big enough to be born yet, but yes, I do like babies, and I am excited to see my baby when it’s time.”

“Oh.” Naver deflated back onto his knees and pressed his face into his the backs of his hands on the bed. He heaved a huge, shuddering sigh. It wasn’t quite a sob, but it was close.

Confused, Tony reached out to Naver, only meaning to touch his hand, but the boy must have seen movement because he recoiled and fell on his bottom.

It was like time froze as Tony’s and Naver’s eyes met in the shadowed heavily shadowed room. Ronon, apparently losing patience with pretending to be asleep, propped himself up on one arm to first look at Tony, then the little boy.

“What’s wrong?”

Ronon’s voice was soft, and he made no moves toward Naver, but the toddler whimpered and fell all the way back. He tried to skitter farther away without taking his eyes from Ronon.

Tony rolled so he could catch Ronon’s gaze over his shoulder.

“It’s alright, _caro_. I just startled Naver like you startled me that time Aaron and I were playing cards. You remember, that time when I told you about Gibbs?”

Tony could see from the clenching of Ronon’s jaw that zyr husband got it. Ronon still got pissed just hearing Tony’s former boss’ name.

“I see,” Ronon said, his voice suddenly as gentle as Tony had ever heard it. “That’s okay.” He looked to Naver. “Hey, you’re way too little to be running around at night, especially alone. Why don’t you stay here with us?”

Tony was nonplused, but zy reminded zyrself that things were different in Pegasus. If the electrical storm and fog were still going strong, it was incredibly dangerous for Naver to be out by himself. Plus, hadn’t that creepy guy said something about predators at night? A toddler as small as Naver definitely would make easy prey for any predator, be it human or animal. Ronon didn’t seem to think it was abnormal to keep the child with them, so maybe it was an unwritten rule that the adult who found the wandering child at night was responsible for him until morning.

It would make sense, sort of. Maybe. Okay, not really, but zy wasn’t going to send Naver away.

Naver slowly got to his feet. He shifted from foot-to-foot, his head cocked to the side as he watched them intently and sucked on his bottom lip. He seemed to decide the offer was genuine and gradually calmed.

He nodded his head finally. “Naver swee?” he asked, going to his knees on floor beside the bed.

Tony’s eyebrows shot up. Poor thing thought they were going to make him sleep on the floor? Oh _hell_ no!

“No, Naver, it’s too cold down there.” Zy held up the blanket in invitation. “C’mere, baby. You’ll sleep here with us.”

Naver's eyes were wide, his lips forming an astonished O.

“Kissah? Me? Me wi’ kissah?”

“Yep,” Tony tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Hurry, little one. I don’t want to let in all the cold.”

With Tony’s help, Naver scrambled onto the bed and into zyr arms looking torn between disbelief and elation.

Tony sucked in a sharp breath and bit down on a curse. Shit, the boy was all skin and bones under his too-thin clothing—clothing obviously not lined with anything like what zy’d been given. He was _freezing_ , especially his hands and feet. They were little blocks of ice against Tony’s torso even through zyr clothes. Naver had to be close to hypothermia, but he was barely shivering, definitely a bad sign.

Ronon pulled up the blankets around them all and met Tony’s eyes. He raised an eyebrow in silent question. Tony nodded.

“Let’s put him between us,” Ronon said out loud for the toddler’s benefit. "It'll be warmer for him."

Naver seemed perfectly happy being moved wherever they wanted so long as he got to cling to Tony. Ronon remained where he was on his side. Naver was put in the middle, his back to Ronon, cuddled tight against Tony’s chest. It was a good thing that Ronon’s size and long limbs meant he could still put his arms around both Naver and Tony after he had pulled all the blankets up over their heads to trap as much heat as possible.

Alteran or not, the structure definitely didn’t have the temperature regulation Atlantis did. It would be best to try to trap even the heat from their breath, especially with a borderline hypothermic toddler. It was a bit like having a living teddy bear between them…albeit a fragile, freezing, dirty teddy bear.

Naver must have been completely exhausted because it didn’t take long after Ronon’s and Tony’s warmth began seeping into him for him to fall asleep.

“Tomorrow we’re finding out what’s going on with that flinch reflex,” Tony murmured.

If somebody was hurting the child, they were going to find out their rainbow-farting, Pegasus unicorn had a sharp horn and didn’t mind goring people to death if they hurt kids.

“Yeah,” Ronon said after a long pause during which he unfastened his shirt so the toddler’s back would be pressed directly to his chest. It was smart, since his body heat would transfer faster into the boy, who had begun to shiver harder in his sleep.

Tony narrowed zyr eyes, trying to see Ronon’s expression despite the pitch black. “You know something.”

Ronon sighed heavily and said, “He wants to go home with us, with you specifically. There used to be stories about kysra who wanted children but didn’t have any. If they couldn’t find anyone they wanted to give them a child or bare one for them, sometimes they would adopt orphans and raise them as their own if there wasn't anyone else able to care for them.”

“Able or willing to care for them, I bet,” Tony stated grimly. In some ways, zy was more cynical than Ronon. Zy had been a neglected child while zyr mother had lived, and zy'd been an abused one after she died. Zy'd seen even worse as a cop, detective, and agent. “I bet that’s what’s going on in this case. I might not know much about kids, but I'm positive they're not supposed to be this thin, nor are they supposed to be out by themselves at night.”

“Yeah. I’m sure you’re right.” With obvious reluctance, Ronon added, “The problem is the way he looks.”

“Why? He’s a cute enough kid from what I can see without more light. What’s wrong with him? Did I miss an extra limb or a tentacle on the back of his head?”

Ronon was silent, then reluctantly explained, “If I’m right, he’s what many in Pegasus call _eidolon_.31 I’m not sure where it came from, but it means ‘the haunted.’”

“Why? Because he’s an albino? Or I think he might be, anyway. Why is that so bad?” Tony just knew zy was going to hate the answer.

“M'kysra, think about how the Wraith look,” he said in the careful tone he tended to use when he was telling Tony something he really didn’t want to be saying.

Tony was silent. What did the Wraith have to do with a human child?

When Tony didn’t say anything, Ronon elaborated, “Wraith males and drones all have the same pure white hair. Their skin is very pale, even if they’re kind of greenish or bluish.” Ronon stroked his warm palm down Tony’s side and squeezed zyr hip. Tony thought Ronon was trying to be comforting, but zy could guess what was coming. “To have a child born with Wraith-white hair, moon-white skin….”

“They’re afraid of the kid,” Tony concluded, zyr lips curling in disgust. “He has no control over how he looks. It’s genetics. There are albino humans on Earth. It’s just a quirk in their DNA—something to do with the chromosome that produces melanin. It doesn’t have a single thing to do with Wraith. At most, the kid might have problems with his sight or a couple other medical things. I don’t remember exactly.”

Tony knew zy had watched a national geographic show about it one time, but zy couldn’t remember the details.

“I know you’re right, but m’kysra, it doesn’t matter,” Ronon murmured gently, as if that would lessen the impact of his words. “The Wraith are the universal fear for all of Pegasus. They’re literally the monster every human grows up fearing— _if_ they get to grow up at all. Until now, I hadn’t ever met one, but from the stories I’ve heard, eidolon are believed to be part Wraith. Even if people don’t believe that, they think having him among them marks their village for culling.”

“I hear what you’re saying, and I realize that the Win’nala don’t have the technology to understand what DNA is, but it _still_ doesn’t make sense!” Tony hissed, zyr hold on the tiny toddler tightening until he made an unhappy sound in his sleep.

Tony relaxed zyr arms and lifted one hand to cradle the back of Naver’s head as if zy could protect him physically. Zy breathed and tried to calm down, knowing zy needed to be quiet so zy didn’t wake Naver. No matter what he’d heard people say before, he did _not_ need to hear their discussion.

“According to the reports I’ve read, Wraith don’t reproduce sexually. Even if they did, they wouldn’t be compatible with humans.”

“I know, m’kysra.” Ronon twined their legs together and rubbed zyr hip, trying to comfort zyr. “Prejudice isn’t ever rational. If it were, it wouldn’t be prejudice. I’m sorry I never thought to warn you about this one. I guess I didn’t think you’d ever run into it.”

Tony grimaced and slipped zyr arm beneath Ronon’s shirt and around his waist. As much as holding Naver appeased the lizard part of zyr brain that demanded zy protect a vulnerable child, and as much as it eased the part of zyr that was still a hurt little kyta zyrself, zy needed to feel zyr husband’s solid strength too.

Tony fucking _hated_ prejudice. Zy'd known logically that it was impossible for the Pegasus galaxy to be free of stupidity like that, but apparently there still had been some part of zyr that wanted to believe the people of Pegasus were somehow better than those zy’d left behind on Earth. To have zyr self-delusion shoved in zyr face so abruptly—and over a vulnerable child when so much of zyr mind and body were already focused on zyr own kyta—was painful.

“No,” zy murmured tiredly. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you, just the rest of humanity. And the Wraith.”

Ronon kissed zyr forehead and held zyr as tightly as he could without squishing Naver.

“If I could, I’d change the whole galaxy for you, amalecto,” he said roughly. “I can’t do that, but I promise I’ll always do my best to take care of you and our family.”

“If Naver is this eidolon, we can’t leave him here. _I_ can’t leave him here,” Tony said hesitantly.

“I know that too. I’m pretty sure we’re taking that servant with us. It’ll work out. For tonight, try to get some sleep. You and the baby need it.”

Tony sighed and lifted zyr head, angling for a kiss. Ronon complied, his lips soft and clinging against Tony’s.

“I love you, Ronon,” Tony whispered when they parted.

“Love you, Tony,” he replied softly, “in this life and into the next.”

Tony let zyrself drift to sleep, knowing that zy and Ronon would figure things out in the morning. If that meant becoming parents several months earlier than they’d anticipated…. Well, they’d work that out too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **26** Win'nala: (win-NAY-lah) M7F-652  
>  **27** Sminagos: (Σμηναγός) flight lieutenant [Earth Greek]  
>  **28** DOA: Dead on Arrival  
>  **29** ban'nisit: (bahn-NIS-it) storms of thick fog and sky-to-ground lightning; the storms are what crack open the ak'chu roots [Win'nala M7F-652]  
>  **30** SOP: Standard Operating Procedure  
>  **31** eidolon: (ay-ee-DOH-lun) lit. the haunted; babies born with moon-white skin and hair, with blue, violet, or red eyes who are feared and ostracized throughout Pegasus; people believe such babies are part Wraith and will draw the Wraith to their planet; most do not survive past infancy [Win'nala M7F-652]


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_Archday, Bhaskara 11, First Year of the Returned  
(June 20, 2008)_

What felt like far too soon, there was a tapping sound outside their door.

Ronon pulled the blankets down from over his head and grunted, “Enter.”

He opened one eye and waited long enough to see who it was, then promptly ignored them and curled back around his family. He was under no illusions. He’d had a good guess at what was going on the second he’d seen the little one he and his meraska were presently cuddling. Unless he was totally wrong, the boy would be going home with them. Ronon was doing his best to put off freaking out about being a pater already.

“Is zy still asleep?” Teyla whispered, coming almost to the foot of their bed. The look on her face was the one she got when she thought Ronon and Tony were being especially endearing.

Ronon didn’t know if that was a good thing or not, since it was close to the expression she’d had when she caught Jinto, Wex, Talsan and Saylor trying to feed goat crap to one of the Earthers as "organic intelligence amplifiers." (Ronon had been all for letting them go. If the Earthers were that dumb, maybe eating goat crap would make them smarter…. And it _might_ be possible that Ronon could have been the one to provide them the name for their product, but that was totally irrelevant.)

In contrast, Rodney entered the room with barely enough space for the door to shut behind him. He kept looking at them but then immediately looking anywhere else as if he was afraid Ronon and Tony were going to start having sex in front of him at any moment. Another time, Ronon would find that really funny. Well, it was still funny, but another time he might have tried to convince Tony to make out with him just to see what it would take before Rodney’s head exploded. In theory, of course. He reminded himself he was supposed to be being nicer to McKay.

“Yeah,” Ronon rumbled. “Zy hates being cold, so it took a long time for zyr to get to sleep last night. Even I was cold. This planet sucks.”

Rodney cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, sorry to bug you guys, but we could use your help. See, there’s this kid who’s lost, but the natives seem reluctant to go look for him for some reason. I didn’t quite get all of what that leader guy was telling Teyla, other than he thought it was a pity children sometimes wandered off and got _eaten_.” Rodney’s nostrils flared in anger at the locals’ attitude toward the child. “I guess the kid has been something of a problem, but that’s no reason not to give a damn that he’s gone. Sheppard and Teyla want you to go along with them to find him.” He rolled his eyes. “They think that if they tell you I’ll stay here with Tony, it’ll be easier to get you and those two from SR-2 to go.”

Rodney looked irritated to be left behind. Or irritated to be separated from his work on Atlantis. Or irritated to be separated from Sheppard. It was hard to tell sometimes, especially when he seemed kind of happy to be asked to stay with Tony, too.

Ronon sighed. “I don’t suppose the kid is called Naver?” he asked as he raised himself on his forearm and reluctantly slid his top arm out from under the blankets so he could make sure they stayed tucked up around Tony’s head, completely covering zyr and Naver. He didn't want them to get colder.

Startled, Teyla asked, “Yes. How could you know that already?”

Naver had awakened and gone stiff the moment Rodney had started talking, and Tony was making snuffling sounds like zy was waking up too. Ronon sighed again. No more sleep or cuddling, dammit.

“Hey,” Ronon said softly, caressing his beloved’s face.

Tony yawned, green eyes blinking sleepily.

“Hey.” Zy smiled so sweetly it made Ronon’s breath catch, and he couldn’t help but smile back.

Rodney started mumbling something that made Teyla whisper-scold him, but Ronon was ignoring them for the moment.

“So,” Ronon told zyr, “I guess there’s a lost little one, and the team wants my help tracking him down.”

Tony was already instinctively cradling Naver’s head against zyr, trying to soothe the tiny boy's trembling.

Zy made a rude noise and rolled zyr eyes, “I don’t suppose that would be the one we found last night? These people need to get a better watch on their children.”

“Wait,” Rodney interrupted, stomping over to the side of the bed now that Tony was awake. “You guys found a kid last night while the rest of us normal people were sleeping? How’d you manage that? I know it didn’t happen on my watch! I’m not the one who missed you getting out of bed to traipse around in the dark.” He froze. “Wait, I’m not, am I? I really don’t think I’d have missed that, and Sheppard would be furious if either of you went out without the rest of us!”

“No, Rodney, you’re fine,” Tony assured him.

Ronon exchanged a look with Tony. They grudgingly sat up, Tony frowning and automatically pulling Naver into zyr lap, wrapping the blankets around them. Naver clung to Tony, his tiny hands clenched in zyr shirt, utterly silent with his face pressed into Tony’s chest, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. It was like he thought if he couldn’t see the strangers, maybe they wouldn’t notice him.

“Well, technically, he found us,” Ronon murmured, running his fingers over Naver’s stark white curls. His hand was big enough to engulf the little boy’s head and have room left over. “Troublemaker, huh?” he shot a glance at Teyla, one brow raised high.

“Oh,” Teyla’s breath left her in a soft exhalation, her dark eyes growing wide. “I believe I understand.”

Rodney looked back and forth between them. “What? I don’t get it. What are you understanding? Is this the lost kid or what?”

“Is the storm gone?” Ronon asked.

“Fine, don’t answer me,” Rodney snapped, stomping back over to Teyla and crossing his arms over his chest.

“The fog is not gone, but visibility is much improved. The lightning has stopped entirely.”

“Good. I’m ready to go home,” Tony said.

Ronon suggested, “Teyla, why don’t you explain it to McKay while we get our stuff together.”

“Of course.” Teyla guided Rodney to one side of the room with a hand on his upper arm.

Ronon slipped from the bed and immediately wished his tunic had fit better. The seams on the sleeves had snapped, and his entire upper half was covered with goosebumps before he managed to strip off the tunic get his now-dry Earther uniform shirts on.

“Do you think these soft pants will fit underneath my uniform?” he asked, holding up the uniform trousers in question.

Tony shrugged one shoulder. “I sincerely hope so. I’m not taking the pajamas off to put the others on. I don’t care if what’s-his-name assumed they’d be getting our clothes back.”

Ronon huffed but refrained from rolling his eyes. Tony still didn’t get how people in Pegasus felt about kysra. He really doubted the people would object to anything Tony wanted to take with zyr. Hopefully, that went for Ronon too.

It took some wiggling and twisting, but Ronon got his trousers on and fastened. He picked up Tony’s clothes and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Don’t try to take off your tunic. Just put this shirt over that one, then your coat.”

It wasn’t easy to get done with a little one on zyr lap, but Tony managed to get the button-up shirt on over the pajama top thing, then zyr coat over the top of that.

Ronon pulled Tony’s balled-up t-shirt out from under his clothes and handed it to zyr next.

“Here, for Naver. I tried to warm it up a little.”

That earned him another sweet smile from Tony, and Naver turned his head to the side enough to peak at him with one violet eye.

Yep. Definitely eidolon, but at least his eyes weren’t red. Though if they'd been red, he probably wouldn't have survived as long as he had. Red-eyed eidolon were most often killed at birth by their own parents just so no one would ever know such a cursed creature had been born into their family. Having violet eyes had probably saved his life.

Tony spoke softly to the little one as zy put the shirt over his head, then helped him slip his arms into the arm holes. It was long enough to completely cover him past his toes, but Ronon could already tell Naver wouldn’t be walking anywhere, so he wouldn’t need to worry about tripping on it.

Ronon gave zyr the pajama top he’d been wearing until the seams had snapped, since he’d decided not to try to wear it under his Earther clothes. “Let’s put this over the top, m’kysra. He’s so little.”

“The more layers, the better,” Tony agreed.

Zy put the neck of the long-sleeved shirt in approximately the right place, but zy just wrapped the sides around him.

Zy slipped from the bed, tucking Naver back beneath the still-warm blankets. “Just wait here, baby. I’ll get dressed, and then I’ll help you,” Tony murmured.

They quickly finished dressing, including putting on their shoes, coats and tac vests. Naver silently watched them from the bed. The only time he took his eyes off them was when McKay had squawked an indignant, “What? People seriously think that? How stupid _are_ they?” before Teyla hushed him.

Ronon figured that meant the explanation was going as well as could be expected.

Once Tony was ready, zy handed off zyr P90 to Ronon and went back to the bed where zy had Naver still bundled under the blankets.

Explaining as zy removed the blankets, zy said, “Alright, Naver, I’m going to fold two of these blankets in half and lay them out on the bed. Then I’m going to help you lie down in the middle with your head and feet pointing to the corners, alright?”

Naver nodded and let Tony fold the blankets, then put him in the middle as zy wanted. The poor little one was shivering violently in spite of the clothes they’d put on him. Ronon thought Naver would do anything Tony asked of him, so his instant obedience and lack of complaining weren’t a surprise.

“Good job!” Tony smiled brightly. “Okay, now, I’m going to bring the bottom corner up to your neck,” zy told him, matching action to words, “and each side up over your shoulder and tuck it behind you so it stays put. There, just like that.”

Tony picked up Naver looking quite satisfied with zyrself and zyr modified swaddling technique. The boy was wrapped warmly, but he could still get his arms out the top if he wanted. Handily, the top corner of the blanket could be flipped over Naver’s head to cover him completely to hold in the warmth and to protect him from the stares of those who might not like that Tony was taking care of him. Naver seemed quite happy to be wrapped up and even pulled the top further closed so that between the blankets and how he was cradled against Tony's body, he was completely hidden. 

“Congratulations. It’s a burrito,” Rodney snarked, earning him an unimpressed look from Tony.

Ronon was just barely able to conceal his own amusement before Tony looked back at him.

“Well, Naver,” Tony said mildly, adjusting the child on zyr hip. “I’m hungry, and I bet you are too. How about we go see what’s for breakfast?”

Ronon followed his meraska from the room, baring his teeth at McKay just to set the man off on another of his tirades. Rodney really was pretty funny sometimes.

Teyla smacked Ronon on the arm. He looked at her innocently, then grinned. She shook her head and gave him a look that said she would remember this moment the next time they sparred, making him huff. Geez. Everybody was such a critic.

Once they’d moved into the short corridor directly outside their room, they found Tzavaras and Red Eagle along with the young servant. She had her arms wrapped around herself and was shivering, her gaze fixed on the floor. Sheppard was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring daggers into the two men.

“We told the Colonel to call off the search party once we knew who they were lookin’ for.” Red Eagle nodded toward the young woman and continued, “Saela here told us last night that she wanted to bring a little orphan boy to stay here with her because she wanted to protect him, and we agreed. We waited for her to come back and looked the kid over to make sure she wasn’t smugglin’ anything in with him. Everything seemed okay, so we didn’t think anything of it when we heard her whispering to him shortly after we returned to the room we were stayin’ in for the night.”

Tzavaras picked up the story. “We kept watch until the Colonel, Dr. McKay, and Teyla came back. We never heard the outer door open, so we assumed all was well.”

“We already reported ourselves to the Colonel, and he’ll deal with us for being so lax when we get home,” Red Eagle confessed, looking sick. “We never should’ve assumed it was okay to leave her alone. We should’ve stayed outside your door instead of in the room, even if it was warmer. She could’ve snuck into your room and done something horrible. We…I’m sorry. I fully expect to get my ass kicked when we get back, if you two wait that long.”

Ronon stared at the young woman.

Feeling his gaze, she glanced up but was unable to meet his eyes before she dropped her gaze to the floor once again.

Trembling in fear, Saela confessed, “I b-b-br-brought him here, honored ones. It is my fault, but he will _die_ if you do not take him with you! I have tried to sneak him food as much as I could, but I have been watched more closely since being brought to serve those below.” Tears slid from beneath her thick, dark lashes and rolled down her cheeks. “I knew his mother. She was very kind to me before she was culled many months ago. I tried to repay her kindness by keeping her son alive.”

“You told him what my meraska is. You told him about the legends of kysra who adopt orphans.”

She shook her head. “Honored one, I told him he had to go to the Kysra and ask if zy would take him. If zy did not want him, he would die. He is very young, too young to understand the legends. Being born as a servant above and looking like he does, he has felt the touch of violence and that of terrible hunger. I told him kysra like babies, and if zy didn’t have one of zyr own, zy might take him away from this place. He is a baby, but he is not stupid.”

Well, that explained a lot. Ronon had thought it was weird that such a tiny little one would know anything about kysra much less be able to find him and Tony. Even if he’d known what Tony was, where they were, and how to get to them, Ronon hadn’t been able to puzzle out exactly how the boy had gotten past the guards who were supposed to have been keeping watch.

Ronon started to speak, but Tony’s elbow nudged his side. Zyr eyes narrowed, Tony made a point of meeting each person’s gaze before declaring firmly, practically daring them to contradict zyr, “I have _no_ idea what any of you are talking about. This is _my_ baby. The Old Ones brought him to me, gave him to me. He’s mine, and I’m taking him home. Is that a problem for anyone?”

Knowing what was good for him, Ronon said, “Yeah, I got a problem with that. Pretty sure I was there when the Old Ones gave him to _us_ , so he’s _our_ baby, m’kysra.”

Saela covered her face with both hands and burst into sobs that shook her entire body.

“Right.” Sheppard walked toward them, his forehead creased with irritation and worry. “So you’re saying these guys _didn’t_ let a potential threat have access to you while you were sleeping?”

“If something like that had happened, they’d be in a lot of trouble,” Ronon said carefully after exchanging a speaking look with Tony. “But since it was the Five, you can’t be pissed at these guys. If you want, I have a couple openings and could take them twice a week for a while, just to make sure all their training is fresh.”

Sheppard turned a wicked smirk on the two guys. “I think that sounds like a _fantastic_ idea, buddy. I’ll just leave it up to you to let me know when you’re satisfied they’re up to par. Could be a long, long time.”

The two guys paled, but Ronon figured they were getting a good deal. He was still going to kick their asses all over the gym on the west pier, and maybe drag them into the _nadatoris32_ that had appeared in the huge room next to the gym for some practice fighting in water, but he wouldn’t seriously hurt them, and they wouldn’t have any official marks on their records or lose respect with their teammates. Plus, they’d learn how to kick ass if they paid any attention at all.

“Great! So let’s get out of this place.”

“Wait,” McKay protested. “I still don’t get what just happened, but I’m not leaving until we eat. A Powerbar is not a healthy breakfast, and you interrupted when I was having that maybe-egg and possibly-bacon thing earlier.”

Sheppard rolled his eyes, but Ronon could tell he was going to give in.

“Fine. Let’s go find Lan’nau and have breakfast.”

Teyla guided the servant girl with a gentle hand on her elbow, speaking softly to her and calming her as they walked. Rodney attached himself to Tony, demanding zy explain what had happened, and Ronon got pulled aside by Sheppard and had to explain eidolon again, but it was less horrible than explaining to Tony had been. Sheppard just looked like he wanted to kick somebody's ass. Tony had been angry and sad, which was way worse and had made Ronon feel guilty that he hadn't fixed the problem before zy'd found out about it, even though that would've been impossible.

“What about the other jumper?” Ronon asked finally. He figured the other teams were okay, or the two guys from Rutherford’s team would be more upset.

“We got in contact with them this morning before the baby snipe hunt,” Sheppard said, which made no sense if only because Ronon had no clue what a snipe hunt was. “They crash landed like we did, but nobody was seriously hurt. They made it through the night okay, but not comfortably. They’re heading home to pick up another jumper and the grab-n-go device so we can pick up our broken jumpers and take them with us. They’re going to meet us at the coordinates for the village asap.”

“Good.” Ronon was more than ready to go home. Even more, he wanted Tony home and safe with Atlantis.

They found the main room again, and Tony settled on a low, cushy chair with Naver on zyr lap. Ronon brought them a bowl of porridge with berries in it. That was a better bet than some maybe-eggs and meat thing Tony had never had before.

Luckily, Ronon recognized the berries as spinna tree33 berries that came from Kardas.34 They’d traded for those several times even before the Apologies Tour started. That meant Ronon knew they were okay for Tony to eat and would definitely help the flavor of the porridge. The worst that would happen was Tony’s tongue and lips would be dyed red for a while. (Ronon definitely would _not_ mention that women sometimes used the berries to purposely dye their lips red.)

Ronon subtly watched the reactions of the below class of villagers around them and was disgusted but unfortunately not surprised at the anger and revulsion they openly displayed when they realized Tony was holding and feeding Naver from zyr own bowl. He stared down the worst of them, baring his teeth and sneering until they either stopped looking or left the room entirely.

From the rigidness of zyr shoulders, Tony was aware of the idiots too, but zy kept talking gently to Naver, sharing zyr porridge and encouraging him to eat, praising him when he took a tiny bit off the spoon. The Lan’nau kept trying to get closer, but one of the others on the team would come up with a question that had to be answered right that second, and they’d keep him distracted.

It wasn’t long before Teyla and the servant Saela joined him and Tony. Ronon raised his eyebrows at Teyla. She had that pinched look that meant she wanted to punch someone in the face, but she didn’t want to ruin the trade agreement or get them shot at.

“That bad, huh?”

“I achieved my goal,” she replied, sending the young servant woman a reassuring smile. “Saela will be returning with us.”

Ronon nodded, not surprised. If Teyla had softened up the Lan’nau, that meant it was Ronon’s turn. Long done with his breakfast, he stood and, with a jut of his chin at Tony and Naver, requested, “Stay here with them?”

“Of course,” Teyla agreed, a knowing look in her dark eyes.

Ronon met his meraska’s concerned gaze and rolled his eyes, shrugging one shoulder. He knew Tony would take that to mean he knew he was being overprotective, but to just go with it if zy could stand it. Tony gave him a brief smile and nod.

He found Sheppard and McKay talking to the Lan’nau who was with some woman, the same one who’d sat next to Sheppard last night, if Ronon remembered right. Ronon thought it might’ve been one of Lan’nau’s wives. When he saw their faces, it was easy to guess that Teyla had left because she was in danger of losing her temper even after she’d won and had gotten permission to take Saela with them.

Ronon strode up to them all without any care for so-called proper manners.

“Hey,” he growled, getting their attention. “So it’s not going to be a problem when the honored Kysra takes that baby, right? ‘Cause the Old Ones brought him to us last night, and I can see my meraska wants to keep him. I figured I should just save myself some trouble and talk to you about it now.”

Sheppard’s eyes narrowed, and Rodney perked up, which made Ronon have to suppress a smirk. Maybe McKay didn’t understand a lot of people interaction kinds of things, but he’d been around Ronon enough to know that Ronon’s current tone meant things could get very interesting very soon.

“Oh. Oh my.” The Lan’nau hesitated. “But, it’s just—are you certain? As I was saying to your companions, it is a rather—um— _delicate_ situation what with the boy being, well, what he is.” He made a vague gesture and grimaced.

“So you’re saying I should deny the Kysra _and_ the will of the Vedaeus,” Ronon said flatly, shifting his weight and bringing his hand down on the butt of his gun.

“Oh, no! No, of course not! By all the Powers, no!”

“Huh.” Ronon grunted. “Then the baby has parents, kin who would be upset if he was gone?”

“Because even the honored Kysra wouldn’t take a child from a family who loved him,” Sheppard interjected, shooting a warning look at Ronon.

Ronon figured he was just worried about what Carter was going to say when they came back with a trade agreement that included a baby and a former slave. As if she could talk. She’d come back from a mission with a tanricu. That thing ate more, was louder, and smelled worse than any little one possibly could.

The Lan’nau looked at the woman next to him.

“No, ah, that is Li’hata would be able to tell you the boy’s kin lines better than I could.”

“Okay.” Ronon transferred his unrelenting gaze to the woman.

“Indeed,” Li’hata said, raising her chin proudly. “I am chief over those who care for the littles when their parents are working the ak’chu35 fields or spinning thread and weaving our special fabric.”

“Great,” Sheppard said with a fake smile. “So what can you tell me about the boy—Naver, was it?”

Li’hata flushed. “That is not actually his name. It was unfortunate that the First Wife before me permitted the nickname. Naver is the name of a large pest that occasionally infests an ak’chu plant before it is ripened by the ban’nisit storms. As soon as it is noticed, the entire plant must be burned to prevent the destruction of the whole field.”

“What’s his real name?” Ronon snapped, even more pissed at the way these people had treated an innocent baby.

Her haughty expression faltered. “I—I am not certain, honored Ronon.”

“Let me get this straight: you—or somebody—named the kid after a destructive bug that you _burn to death_ , and you people have been letting it go on so long nobody even _knows_ his real name?” McKay ranted indignantly, hands waving around like they usually did when he got pissed. “Oh, the honored Kysra is going to completely lose zyr mind when zy hears that. You’d just better pray zy doesn’t report your _whole planet_ to the Vedaeus! You're going to be in such trouble with them! Didn’t you just say this was the best ban’nisit storm you guys have had in decades, and that your ak’chu harvest is going to be the best in living memory? That was probably the Vedaeus because the Kysra was here, and now they’re going to find out that you’re basically insulting them to their faces. Because that’s smart. Right. I _really_ don’t want to be here when they find out. I think I’ll just go let the Kysra know _right now_ so we can get out of here before the Vedaeus destroy your planet!”

“No!” both Lan’nau and Li’hata cried out simultaneously.

“Oh no! No, please, honored Ronon,” the Lan’nau begged, moving closer and bowing deeply from the waist, bending his knees as though he would kneel if necessary. “Please speak to the most honored Kysra and ask zyr to have mercy on us!”

Ronon crossed his arms. He was inclined to call down the Old Ones himself, and Li’hata seemed to know it.

Lips pressed together, desperately afraid but refusing to display it quite so openly, the caretaker reached out and pulled Lan’nau away from Ronon.

“I understand and agree that we adults are at fault for not seeing and stopping such a thing. The Wraith now come with only a few months between cullings. Perhaps that is our punishment. I admit, when the previous wife was culled many months ago, I shed no tears. I have tried to change things, but you are right. I did not do enough to protect the boy. My only excuse is that I thought bringing him to the attention of the other adults would endanger him further. You are Satedan. Even if your protectors are not aware, you know what an eidolon is. I was afraid they would blame him for the increase in cullings.”

“You were scared that if they thought about the little one, they’d kill him.”

“Yes. He is an orphan with no kin who will claim him. I do know that much. If the most honored Kysra wishes to keep him, then please take him, and with our gratitude for zyr kindness.”

Ronon studied her through narrowed eyes and eventually decided she was telling the truth. Maybe she could have done things differently, but it sounded like she hadn't been the one in charge until recently. She was probably right about what the adults would’ve done if the little one had been brought to their attention.

"Okay." Ronon took his hand off his gun and nodded curtly. "I'll tell my meraska you've been trying to do right and that you weren't in charge when people started calling him that. We need to know other stuff about him, though."

He eyed Rodney. Someone would need to get the little one’s information and his belongings, if he had any. Rodney never went anywhere without a computer or some kind of recording device on him. "My meraska’s brother, Protector McKay, will listen to you tell what you know about the boy— _everything_ you know—and he will put it in his machine. You will bring all the boy’s belongings to McKay, and he'll make sure the Kysra gets them."

Rodney had opened his mouth to protest, then shut it abruptly when he got a narrow-eyed look from Sheppard.

"I would be glad to do that much for you and the Kysra, sir," Li’hata assured him. "Please, McKay, come with me and allow me to fix you a fresh plate of _rastudeof.36_ I know you didn't get nearly enough to eat before the others took you away to search for Na—the little one."

"Well," McKay glanced at Sheppard, who subtly jerked his chin toward Li’hata. "I am still a bit hungry, and there's no reason we can’t eat while we talk."

Not caring about being rude or the fact that he was leaving Sheppard to deal with the Lan’nau, Ronon abruptly walked away.

Tony was still on the low chair, though zy was finished eating and was only talking with Teyla. Zy was holding the little one and rocking just a little. Zy probably didn't even realize zy was doing it. All Ronon could see of the boy was a bony, white hand clutching the neck of Tony's coat. Everything else, even his head, was covered by the blankets Tony had wrapped him in earlier. He was so still that if Ronon hadn't known there was a little one in there, he'd have thought Tony was just being weird about some rolled-up blankets.

Ronon lowered himself beside Tony, who looked at him with a question in zyr eyes.

"It's alright. I took care of it. He's coming home with us."

Tony grinned, eyes bright with relief. Clearly, zy'd already bonded with the little one, so Ronon was especially glad he'd done what he had.

"Hey, you hear that, Na—"

Ronon interrupted, "No. Not Naver. Tell you why later, but we need to name him ourselves."

"Oh." Tony glanced at him worriedly, then carefully masked it. Zy gently moved the blanket back so they could see the little one’s face. "Well, sweet baby, what shall we call you? Hmm…" Zy studied his face as zy thought about it. "I know. My second name is Darius, which means 'to possess good.' It's also the name of a very famous ruler I know about. Would it be alright if that's your name now?"

Darius raised his head and stared at zyr in wonderment. Tony smiled at him, so he gazed warily at Ronon, as if expecting him to tell Tony zy was doing something wrong.

Ronon shifted forward onto his knee so he could rest one hand on Tony's shoulder. He slowly reached toward the boy with the other until he could gently brush two fingers against his soft, sunken cheek, then run his hand over his curly, white hair.

"What do you think, little one? Do you like that name?"

The boy put his thumb in his mouth and nodded tentatively, making Ronon and Tony smile at him.

"I'm glad, Darius," Tony murmured, kissing Darius' brow.

Darius' strange violet eyes widened again, and he blinked at Ronon, who leaned forward slowly and repeated the kiss.

Darius gasped silently and reached up his hand to touch the place his new parents had kissed him.

Tony grinned. "You’re such a sweetheart, Darius. I’m so happy I’m your dada now."

"Your dada is my meraska; that means I’m your papa."

Wide-eyed, Darius looked back and forth between them, studying their expressions until he finally understood and believed what they were telling him. His lower lip began to quiver, and his breath started to catch.

Tony tried to comfort him when the first silent tears started to fall down his cheeks. "Aw, my poor baby. It'll be okay. It's okay."

That was too much for the little boy. He turned his face into Tony’s chest and began to cry. That too was nearly silent, which was unnerving. No little one that small should know how to silence his distress in such a way.

Tony shot Ronon a panicked look. He shrugged and shook his head helplessly. Did Tony suddenly think he'd gained magical insights? Not hardly.

"He is overwhelmed," Teyla said calmly from not far away. “Continue to comfort him, and his tears will soon cease."

Ronon had actually forgotten Teyla and Saela were there, but he assumed she knew what she was talking about. He and Tony did as Teyla suggested, and sure enough, the little one stopped crying eventually. He’d stuck his thumb in his mouth and tucked himself against Tony's neck after zy'd wiped his face for him, obviously exhausted and nearly asleep.

Ronon drew the blanket back up over Darius’ head to protect him and help keep him warm.

“Actually, could you take him?” Tony asked quietly. “My ass is numb, and my back hurts. This chair might look comfortable, but it’s really not.”

Amused, Ronon carefully took the little one from zyr and cradled him gently. Even with all the blankets Tony had wrapped around him, he seemed too small and fragile in Ronon’s arms.

Darius woke briefly, but Tony crooned, “It’s alright, Darius. Papa’s going to take you so Dada can stand up and stretch zyr legs.”

Ronon got to his feet as Teyla helped Tony up. Zy groaned and stretched, then slid zyr hands under zyr coat so zy could rub zyr low back.

Zy looked at Ronon and suddenly grinned.

“What?”

Tony shook zyr head. “Nothing. Just, you’re doing the baby sway.”

Ronon raised one eyebrow. “The baby sway?”

Tony laughed. “Yeah, that swaying parents do to keep their kids calm and asleep. It must be part of our genetic code because you’re doing it right now.”

Huh. Sure enough, he was. He shrugged his free shoulder.

“You were doing it earlier,” he pointed out. As long as it kept Darius calm, Ronon was happy.

Teyla grinned, and even Saela smiled shyly, though she ducked her head and half hid behind Teyla as Sheppard and Rodney joined them.

“It is heartwarming to see you take on your role as his pater so quickly,” Teyla commented.

“What now?” Sheppard asked, confused.

“Nothing.” Tony was still grinning. “We’re just teasing Ronon about being adorable with Darius.”

“Darius? Is that what you named him?” Rodney asked. “I guess it’s okay, but if you'd waited, I could’ve helped you come up with something appropriately intellectual. You want him to be smart, right? Rodney is a great name for someone intelligent, for instance. You could use it as a middle name, so there’s still time.”

“Alren,” Ronon interjected. “His name is Darius after Tony and Alren for my younger brother.”

“That’s perfect.” Tony leaned into Ronon’s side, affection and understanding in zyr smile.

“Oh, fine. I suppose there’s the next one to think of. Rodney is a better first name anyway.”

Tony chuckled and reached for Darius.

"You sure you don't want me to keep him for now?"

Zy nodded. "Yeah. They're letting me have him because I'm the Pegasus magical Rainbow Bright, right? I don't want anyone to think I'm willing to hand him off to anyone else, even my husband."

"Okay, just let me know if he gets too heavy. I don't want you to strain yourself when I can just shoot anyone who tries to take him from you."

Tony snorted as they shifted the baby back to zyr. "I'm pretty sure shooting people would kill the deal we've finally got negotiated with these people for the ak'chu—which is a hilarious word; I don't care what you say."

"Maybe we could leave before anybody shoots anybody else," Sheppard drawled. "I know I can hardly wait to tell Colonel Carter that we've got a new trade agreement and a bonus kid…and young lady," he added with a nod to Saela. She was so still and quiet, it was easy to forget she was there.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure Darius is Tony's, but I get to share. Teyla’s gonna teach Saela to kick ass, so all Carter gets is the trade agreement."

Tony beamed at him and allowed zyrself to be nudged into the middle and most protected position as they started toward the exit to above. "See, intelligence like that is why I know I picked the best husband in any universe.”

Ronon grinned back before focusing the majority of his attention to the villagers who apparently were going to follow them through the exit to the above, despite rarely leaving the safety of below if they could otherwise help it. He couldn't tell if they were going to be pleased that the kysra had chosen to take one of their orphans or pissed that zy'd chosen to take in an eidolon rather than one of the "normal" orphans. It could go either way, and Ronon refused to be caught off guard when he had so much at stake.

Tzavaras and Red Eagle met them at the exit.

“Sir,” Tzavaras addressed Sheppard. “I confirmed the other protectors are waiting for us, no unexpected difficulties in retrieving the damaged jumpers.”

“Excellent. Shall we?”

Sheppard led the strange group into the dreary landscape. It might be less foggy than the previous day—it couldn’t have been worse, after all—but everything was drab brown, grey, or dirty white. The villagers from above were hollow-eyed and hollow-cheeked, and they looked as though they’d lost hope in a good meal or a good life. Even their clothing was thin, and there wasn’t enough of it for the temperature, which Ronon thought was inexcusable in a land that made cloth from the plants those same people grew. The angry set of Tony’s jaw told Ronon zy felt the same way.

A warbling call that turned to a scream and abruptly cut off only made the differences between those from above and those from below more stark: the people from below gasped and trembled in fear, but those from above didn’t even bother to look in the general direction.

“These two now, then others later,” Ronon said softly, seeing that Tony was about to lose zyr temper.

Zy glanced over at him, zyr lips pressed tightly together in a thin, angry line. Zy nodded sharply and continued walking.

That asshole Lan’nau saw them to the jumper himself. Ronon hadn’t had much respect for him before, but now he wanted to kick his ass and feed his guts to the Satedan sharks.

"Well, my friends, we will look forward to the harvest and our next meeting," Lan’nau said with a wide grin and a nervous laugh. His gaze skittered around, trying to watch for whatever had killed the animal they’d just heard or checking to see how his people were responding. Ronon wasn’t sure which.

To Ronon's displeasure, Tony was the one who pushed forward toward the man.

"Thank you for allowing me and mine to take shelter with you," Tony began.

Ronon wondered if anyone else could tell how fake zyr bright smile was.

"Amazing that instead of carrying my first child within me, he was here living here among the Win’nala—a people the Old Ones must intend to be my new friends."

There was an increased noise from all the murmuring among the people. Even those from above took interest. Ronon watched carefully, but Tony had judged the crowd right, and the emotion went from apathetic to curious and cautiously hopeful. The Lan’nau must have felt it too, because he clasped his hands together and grinned.

"Yes, yes, most honored Kysra! It is our pleasure to count you and your people as our allies and our friends. If there is ever anything—"

"Actually, there is one other thing."

Lan’nau froze mid-bow. He straightened warily. "Oh?"

"Yes. You see, out on other worlds, there is a terrible fear of those who look like my son, those who have white skin and hair." Tony shook zyr head and snorted. "Oh, I know the Win’nala are far too smart to harbor prejudices against a person simply for being born looking a certain way, but other worlds are not as intelligent as you are."

Lan’nau looked like he wasn't sure if he should agree or not. His gaze again flickered over the assembled crowd, which was again quiet and waiting for Tony's next words.

“Truly?"

Tony nodded gravely. "Yes. You are to be commended, Lan’nau, for leading your people in strength and not allowing them to succumb to baseless fears like others might." Zy shook zyr head slowly. "If the Win’nala were weak and fearful like so many others, my son might not have been here when I came looking. Where would we be then?"

Lan’nau blanched. From what Ronon could hear of the crowd's whispers, it seemed they were suddenly looking at the bundled little one in Tony's arms in a whole new light.

"A—um, a terr—terrible thought indeed, honored Kysra," he stuttered, ending with an awkward laugh.

"Very," Tony agreed firmly. "So. What you can do for me is continue to lead your people without fear. Make sure that any child born looking like my son is well cared for. If something happens and they are left without someone who will claim them and raise them in love, cherished as _all_ children should be, then call for me so we can find out if the Vedaeus intended the child for me or one of those I consider my kin."

Lan’nau was already nodding rapidly. "Of course, of course! I will see to it that all my people are told."

Tony looked down at the bundle in zyr arms, smiling softly and shifting him to a more comfortable position. Zy leaned close to Lan’nau as if to share a secret, but zy must have known everyone was listening as hard as they could.

"There are others like me, you know. Other kysra," zy said, loudly enough for those who were closest to hear and pass it on.

Lan’nau’s eyes went wide, his jaw dropping open in shock.

Tony looked at Ronon and smirked. "My husband found me because he was beloved and blessed by the Old Ones. I chose him because he is smart and brave and loves as fiercely as he fights. I know he will love and protect me and our children." Zy glanced down to where zy was cradling Darius against zyr and emphasized, " _All_ our children. Much as a good leader protects all his people, not just one part."

With another wide, fake smile, Tony strode into the jumper with Ronon at zyr back, his heart fairly bursting with pride. A love for all people and a desire for justice were only a couple of the reasons why the kysra were beloved by the Old Ones and by all humans. Born on Earth or not, Ronon believed with all his soul that Tony exemplified all that kysra were meant to be.

“Well? Are we going home or not?” Tony called over zyr shoulder. “Colonel, the pilot’s seat looks open, unless you want me to take it.”

The jumper hatch closed out the mass of alternately shocked, pleased, and scandalized villagers.

Tony certainly knew how to make an exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **32** nadatoris (nah-dah-TOR-ihs) indoor swimming pool and surrounding area [Satedan]  
>  **33** spinna tree (SPIN-nah) large silvery-grey trunk with canopy of drooping branches and very dark green leaves (similar to an Earth weeping willow tree); produces thousands of 3-4mm sweet, red berries; edible and used for dye [Kardas]  
>  **34** Kardas (KAR-dahs) M33-985; homeworld of Voresh and Mertu (characters in The Kysra: Extras)  
>  **35** ak'chu: (AWK-choo) spidersilk plant and primary crop of Win'nala. Once it is struck by lightning and the root cracked open, it sends out strands of silk-like strands that funnel upward to encase whatever object is nearby. Strands are "trained" along trellises or cages that look like tapered tomato plant supports. Cages are taken down, then one strand from each of three cages is spun together to make a thread thick enough to weave into cloth. The thread is extremely durable, non-conductive, and fire-resistant [Win'nala M7F-652]  
>  **36** rastudeof: (ras-TOO-day-ov) egg and meat mixture commonly eaten in the morning [Win'nala M7F-652]


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

_Archday, Bhaskara 11 (cont.)  
(June 20, 2008)_

Aaron was nearly vibrating with anxiety and anticipation as zy and Logan stepped into the transporter.

“You’re sure they don’t mind?” zy asked, peering worriedly up at him.

“’Course not, tiger.” Logan gave zyr a crooked smile. He’d comm’d Tony to ask if it would be alright if he brought Aaron up to see for zyrself that they were alright. Tony had said zy’d love to see Aaron and had asked that he keep the toddler zy’d brought home a surprise. Logan hoped it would be a _good_ surprise, since Aaron hadn’t had nearly enough of those in zyr life.

The transporter door opened, and they stepped into the Dexes’ home. After taking off their shoes, he asked Aaron, “Living room?”

“Um…” zy had to stop chewing on the corner of the cuff of one of Logan’s long-sleeve, olive drab, uniform shirts, the kind he’d worn before coming to Atlantis. It dwarfed Aaron, but zy said the shirts made zyr feel safer, so there was no way Logan could ask zyr to give them back after that. It wasn’t like he needed them.

Zy tilted zyr head and got that listening expression that meant Atlantis was talking to zyr.

“She says they’re in the kitchen,” Aaron said softly, the only volume zy seemed to have anymore. It made Logan wish he’d spent longer killing the Saunders brothers. It also made him wish he hadn’t left Molly Saunders alive, even if she had given birth to Aaron. She certainly hadn’t done right by their kyta.

“Okay. You know the way,” Logan replied, bringing one hand up to Aaron’s back to gently guide zyr anyway.

Logan was thinking about how strange it was that the entire place was so dim, all the windows a cloudy grey as he and Aaron rounded the corner into the kitchen and breakfast area. The next odd thing was that Tony wasn’t the one working on whatever it was Ronon was making. Normally Ronon just “helped” Tony and snuck bites and kisses when he could get away with it.

Logan was just wondering if Tony had been put on bed rest when he spotted zyr in the breakfast area, sitting in a light teal recliner with sides that were more parenthesis than straight lines like a normal chair would have.

The chair had to be something Atlantis had come up with because it was double the normal width and didn’t look like it went with the other furniture, but it looked ridiculously comfortable. Besides, Logan was pretty sure the Dexes hadn’t had a recliner in that spot the last time he’d visited, not even one that _did_ match the rest of the décor.

Tony was partially reclined with zyr legs up on the footrest. Zy had a big, brownish blanket spread over zyr and bunched up funny against zyr torso. He’d thought Sheppard had said the child was a toddler, but it wouldn’t be that small.

“Little one, this is Aaron and zyr papa, Logan,” zy told the blanket, a serene little smile on zyr lips. “Aaron is a kysra like Dada.”

Logan paused in the doorway and frowned. Aaron glanced at him but stole silently through the kitchen, sending a guarded glance in Ronon’s direction as zy slipped past him toward Tony, curiosity written all over zyr.

When Aaron reached zyr side, Tony lifted a bit of the blanket and told zyr, “Here, kneel down so you’re not towering over him.”

Aaron knelt and gasped. “Oh my gosh! _Oh my_ _gosh_!” zy whisper-yelled, eyes wide, and both hands partially covering zyr mouth.

That was followed by more wiggling and yipping than the hyperactive puppy Logan had tried to convince Molly they needed years ago, so Logan stepped closer until he could see over the top of Aaron’s head without crowding zyr and Tony.

“When did you get a baby?” he blurted out, spying the baby with bleached-white skin and hair lying on Tony’s chest. It looked a lot smaller than he’d expected. Had they had something else happen that Logan hadn’t been told about? “I thought it was supposed to be a toddler, and your bun was still in the oven. Don’t tell me you went through some device that aged the baby, delivered zyr, and then aged zyr again.”

It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, not in the Stargate program. Weirder things had happened.

“No,” Ronon snorted, rolling his eyes. “Tony still carries our kyta.”

“Oh my gosh, Tony! Are his eyes really purple, Tony? They look purple!”

“His irises are blue,” zy replied patiently, “but they’re light enough that you can sort of see the blood vessels behind them, which makes them look violet.”

Logan moved back to where Ronon was working and asked quietly, “Can he see at all?”

“Doc thinks some. The planet he lived on is dark and foggy a lot of the time, so Atlantis is going to do some work on his eyes after we all go to sleep so he can see okay in our light.”

“That’s why it’s so dim in here.”

“Quick one, aren’t ya?” Ronon responded, continuing to whisk together whatever it was that he was making. It looked like some kind of oily cream-of-wheat or rice pudding. Maybe some unholy combination of the two.

“He’s so _pretty_!” Aaron gushed, tentatively touching the blanket over the boy’s back. The baby immediately turned to hide his face against Tony but didn’t make a sound. Logan wondered if he was unable to speak. “What’s his name? How old is he? How did you get him? You were on that planet with the thread for that cloth, right? Can I hold him? _Ohmygosh!_ Can I babysit for you? I _love_ babies!”

Logan could feel his eyebrows migrating up his forehead into his hairline. That was probably the most Aaron had said and as loud as zy’d ever spoken voluntarily that didn’t involve wincing away afterward. Equally important, since when had Logan’s kyta, _his_ baby started thinking about or liking babies zyrself?!

Tony grinned fondly at Aaron, one hand coming up to rub the baby’s back.

“His name is Darius Alren. He’s very shy right now, so I’ll have to ask you to wait to hold him until he’s a little less skittish. Doc Xander thinks he’s about twenty, possibly as much as twenty-four Earth months old, but he’s suffering from malnutrition that stunted his development, so we’re not sure. Yes, it was on Win’nala, where we went to trade for that fabric and thread.”

Aaron gasped, “They just _gave_ him to you?!”

Tony made a noncommittal noise and kissed the top of Darius’ head, running zyr hand over his spring-like curls and bringing the soft blanket up to cover more of him again when he shivered. “Something like that. He was an orphan. There’s a prejudice in Pegasus that I’ll tell you about another time, but it meant they were willing to allow Ronon and me claim Darius as ours now.”

“Oh, wow!”

Logan’s head jerked up from where he’d let Ronon coerce him into drying the few dishes that had already been hand-washed, instincts abruptly on alert.

“Would they give _me_ a baby?” Aaron breathed, zyr dark eyes wide and excited as zy stared at Darius.

“No,” Logan snapped before anyone else could say anything, wincing when it earned him a stomped-on foot and an elbow to the side as Aaron, Tony, and Darius all flinched. He softened his tone and tried to fix his mistake. “No babies for _my_ baby until zy’s forty. And zy has to be married at least five years first, so maybe zy should wait until zy’s fifty. Sixty would probably be best.”

Tony rolled zyr eyes, but otherwise ignored Logan. “You’re right about one thing, Wolfe pup: I’m definitely going to need help when I have to be in the city, or even when I’m working from home and need someone to look after Darius now and the still-baking mini-Dex later on. You sure you’re up for that?”

Aaron was nodding so hard zyr espresso-dark hair was flopping all over the place, and zy had to use both hands to push it out of zyr face so zy could talk.

“Yes! I’ll come over any time you want!” Zy leaned in and lowered zyr voice to croon, “You hear that, Darius? Your dada is gonna let me come see you lots. I’m gonna spoil you _all_ the time, too. We’ll find the best movies—I know your dada has some you’ll _love_ —and we’ll eat yummy snacks and play the best games. I love snuggling, so I’ll just sit and hold you the _whole_ time you’re napping.”

“Sounds like you better plan on movin’ in, especially if you don’t want your kyta looking for a baby of zyr own. You know any planet in Pegasus would give zyr anything zy wanted, including your first anakyta,” Ronon snarked, the bastard.

At least he was quiet enough about it that Aaron didn’t hear him. Still, the look Logan gave Ronon was deeply unimpressed…even if he had to admit he might be just the tiniest bit right. Aaron was already enthusiastically offering, “I can show you how to make clothes for Darius. I bet you don’t have anything that’ll fit him right now. And mittens! Mittens and shoes! Oh my gosh, I bet he has the cutest little toes! Baby toes and fingers are the most adorable things _ever_!”

Tony laughed at Aaron’s enthusiasm, but kindly and not in a way that would make Logan’s kyta feel stupid. “You’re right about that, too. I only have adult stuff and mostly newborn baby stuff, maybe a few things for later on. You’ve seen all the fabric I bought, but that stupid sewing machine hasn’t made it past being set up, and I’m not sure I got that right. I’m _positive_ it looked easier in the store.” Shrugging the shoulder on the side without the baby attached, zy added, “I’ve posted on Zelenka’s List for help, but either nobody knows how, they don’t have time, or they don’t want to help.”

“Oh, geez. I started taking DSS—um, that’s Domestic Service and Skills—in school with the other delts when we were, like, kids or something. I’ve been sewing stuff for _years_ now. I’m sure I can show you,” Aaron was grinning widely, zyr entire body lit up with excitement. “We’ll start with something really easy, though, like a blanket from basically any of that fleece you have. You can even do that by hand—just cut off what you want and hem the edges. Darius will love it!”

“I’ll take your word for it. At least he won’t care if my seams are crooked,” Tony agreed. “What about you? We do things on the barter system here, so what do you want or need? I know you’ve been bored. Here, get up here with us while we talk, puppy.”

Aaron eagerly climbed into the huge recliner, curling half next to Tony, half in zyr lap, if only so zy could be as close as possible to little Darius. Zy started to babble at Tony and Darius both, the way zy used to do with Logan.

Logan did his best to shove the jealousy down deep. He was happy Aaron had taken to Tony as quickly as zy had. _Happy_ , dammit!

“Let me give this to Tony and put the rest in the fridge,” Ronon said, taking a tiny, glass bowl of the stuff he’d made off the kitchen scale. He grabbed the baby spoon lying next to it and took them to the cuddle-fest in the chair. “I’ll show you the workout room Atlantis made for me for my birthday last month.”

Logan raised a brow. “A workout room. As in your _own_ workout room.”

Damn. And he’d thought getting a mini-fridge was a sign of being one of Atlantis’ favorites. Apparently he had a ways to go.

“Yeah, for me and Tony.” Ronon put the lid on the paste stuff and put it away. He jerked his head toward the doorway. “Here, let’s go through here. They’ll be busy for a while.”

Logan huffed at that. Tony and Aaron were in their own world where Ronon and Logan were superfluous. Aaron had one of Darius’ hands in zyrs, pale little fingers wrapped around zyr thumb. It was cute, just as long as Aaron didn’t seriously decide zy wanted a kyta of zyr own. Maybe babysitting would be a good idea. Enough getting puked on, pooped on, and screamed at, and Aaron would think putting off having zyr own kids was a _fantastic_ idea.

Hopefully.

Even if Aaron were in zyr twenties and ready for children, Logan was not old enough to be a grandfather; that was for damn sure!

He followed Ronon through the door and down the hall, past the room where they all watched movies together and to what Logan suspected was another bedroom in the original plans. As if the Dexes needed more bedrooms. The room wasn’t huge, but it was large enough for several pieces of equipment.

“Nice,” he said admiringly. “She did all this for your birthday?”

“Yeah. She’s already done one thing for Tony’s birthday, but I’m not sure what else she might do. She has until the twentieth of this month.”

Logan chuckled. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m 99.9% sure this whole place is for Tony.”

Ronon grinned and shrugged.

“Wait,” Logan said, something occurring to him. “You said she has until the twentieth. Is that the twentieth of Bhaskara or the twentieth of June?”

Ronon stared at him.

“Shit, you’re not sure, are you? If Tony’s birthday is June twentieth, you’re screwed, buddy. That’s today.”

Ronon’s eyes widened. Logan tried very hard not to laugh at him, especially when he’d probably kick his ass for it at some point.

“Atlantis?” Ronon called out. “Did you figure out that thing you said—?”

Logan assumed Ronon was hearing a response in his head, since Atlantis didn’t appear, yet Ronon grunted and looked pleased.

“Good, that’ll be perfect. What about my—? Yeah, those. Okay, that’s great.” Looking back at Logan, he said, “Nope. I’m set. Wanna see the nursery? Sounds like Aaron’s gonna be in there a lot.”

“Just keep twisting the knife, you ass,” Logan grumbled. “Yeah, let’s see it.”

Logan was burning with curiosity to hear the first-hand account of how Ronon and Tony had ended up with a child, but if Ronon didn’t bring it up, he wasn’t going to push. Ronon might not want to talk about it. Logan certainly didn’t want to talk about how he’d rescued Aaron.

They continued down the hallway past the laundry room on the right, which he no longer had to be jealous about because he and Aaron had their own, and no fewer than three bedrooms on the left, and into the entry for the master suite.

“I thought there used to be a door on the right before now. That’s what I remember from that tour you two gave me when you first invited me up here.”

“Yeah, there was,” Ronon agreed. “Atlantis moved it inside the bedroom hallway a while back. She thought it would be easier if we didn’t have to leave our bedroom to get to the kyta. We didn’t know we were gonna have Darius so soon. I tried to explain to Tony that Darius and the kyta could share the nursery, but zy seemed confused. Whatever. We’ll make it work.”

It was Logan’s turn to needle Ronon. “I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but you’re not getting that kid out of Tony’s arms any time in the near future. If you’re lucky, zy’ll let you hold him while zy uses the bathroom.”

Ronon just sighed. “Yeah, I know. We have to feed Darius every couple hours for a while to get his body used to food. Plus, he’s too starved and thin to be able to regulate his own body temperature, so he’s going to sleep with us for right now, too.”

Logan burst into laughter, then tried to cover it with a cough.

Ronon scowled. “What.”

“Sorry, but you said ‘for now.’ I thought it was funny—unless you meant ‘for now’ as in ‘until he turns eighteen and moves out.’ Of course, you’ll still have the next one and who knows how many after that. You should just plan on never getting laid in your own bed ever again,” Logan explained, slapping Ronon on the shoulder in mock sympathy.

From the way Ronon was glaring at him, Logan was definitely getting even for Ronon’s earlier baiting.

“You’re such an ass,” Ronon grumbled irritably. “Shut up and look at the room.”

Sniggering to himself as he obeyed, Logan had to admit it was nice, though it wasn’t finished by any means. The carpet was a soft grey, the walls a pale yellow, and the crib was white. There was another teal chair that matched Tony’s, so that explained where it had come from, and there was a stack of fabric in one corner that ranged from light yellow to soft green, a grey a few shades lighter than the carpet, and a soft pinkish-orange. Aaron probably would’ve called that one coral or some other fancy color word zy’d learned in school.

“Nice. Did you and Tony pick the colors?”

“Tony more than me,” Ronon admitted, “but I like it. Atlantis made a bunch of squares of colors, and then she and Tony talked about it forever. This might not be their final choice yet, though they’re happy so far. Neither one wanted anything that was a typical color for any gender on Earth.”

“Your planet didn’t designate colors for genders?” Logan asked, intrigued. As far as he knew, Earth—the United States, at least—had always had a pink for girls, light blue for boys, and light purple for delts color scheme.

Ronon shook his head and walked over to the sliding door that led out to the courtyard. “No, that’s dumb. We wear tan, brown, black, and grey most of the time in Pegasus because that’s what blends in. Those are the colors leather comes in too, which is what holds up to fighting. Plus, we think bright colors are easier for the Wraith drones to track. We don’t think they can see with the detail humans do, but they seem to track colors better.” He shrugged. “We wear bright colors of all kinds during celebrations, but I’ll wear whatever Tony wants me to when we’re at home and I’m not going to wreck it sparring or fighting.”

Logan nearly choked at the mental image of Ronon in pale pink or violet shirt, maybe with some bunnies or ducklings on the trim. People would probably assume he was trying to get someone to insult him so he’d have an excuse to beat their asses. Doubtless, someone would be stupid enough to insult what Ronon would see as Tony’s choices. Logan would have to remember the idea so he could suggest it if Ronon got too cranky because he wasn’t getting laid at the drop of a hat anymore, and there weren’t enough people being sent to IST.

As for what he’d said about the darker colors they’d all seen in Pegasus, that all made sense. The Earth military put their people in colors that would blend well with the terrain. Logan sure as hell wouldn’t want to be wearing bright orange or neon yellow when he was trying to hide from the Wraith. Neither of those would blend in with sand, brush, or any other landscape he’d seen so far.

“C’mon,” Ronon said, jerking his head toward the door. “Let’s go through this way.”

“Alright.”

Logan had thought they’d head back to the kitchen, but Ronon walked across the courtyard to the huge, empty room that was still only about half the size of the master bedroom.

“Wasn’t there something in here before?” Logan asked. He was confused as to why they were there, but willing to go along with it. Tony would have Atlantis alert Ronon if Aaron needed anything.

“Yep.”

Ronon moved toward the interior door. The door for the private bathroom opened, then the main door to the hallway. A door to the right opened, showing furniture for an office.

“Nice, right?”

Logan followed Ronon inside, nodding as he looked around. “Yeah, is it Tony’s?”

“Nope.”

“Yours?”

“Nah. Don’t need an office.”

Ronon walked back into the hall and through the next door on the left. It was another bedroom, smaller than the other one, but still very large compared to normal bedrooms on Earth. It had to be fifteen by seventeen feet, at a guess.

“This one has a private bathroom too.”

“Right. I remember from my last tour.” Finally running out of patience, Logan crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Look, what’s the point to this? What’s going on?”

Ronon made a face. “Tony’s so much better at this, but zy has Darius on zyr brain, and that’s about all right now.”

“Better at what? I don’t get it.”

“I know. Look,” Ronon said gruffly, “we’ve talked a lot about what we’re doing after the baby is born. After Aaron came to Atlantis, zy told Tony that zy worked with babies and littles somewhere called a daycare. Zy wished zy could work there more, but the sa’te wreth zy lived with wouldn’t let zyr.”

“Wait, what?”

“Sa’te wreth: descendant of a Wraith or a Wraith in hiding. People who act like them and take the life from others without caring.”

That was perhaps the best—and most accurate—description Logan had ever heard of Aaron’s living arrangements.

“Say it again.”

Ronon obligingly enunciated, “Sah-TEE-reth.”

“Got it. Go on.”

“Right, so Tony and I talked about how it could be good if zy were willing to take care of the kyta a few days a week in trade for something zy wants or needs that we either have or can get. It would help us, and it might help zyr gain more confidence. Tony’s worried because Aaron never leaves your apartment right now.”

Logan grunted. He’d had the same worry about Aaron, but he didn’t know what to do about it. He hated how many hours Aaron spent alone, but zy refused—very quietly—to leave to go meet people. Insisting zy do so only ended in tears and Aaron hiding in zyr room for days at a time while Logan gave himself an ulcer from guilt and fear that he was messing up his kyta even more.

“You think Aaron wants to be your full-time babysitter?”

“Not that word. I know it doesn’t mean that, but it’s stupid. I don’t want your kyta to sit on my little ones,” Ronon said with a disgusted twist to his lips. “In Satedan it’s ilshan, _37 _ which is a very respected position because of how we cherish little ones. Nobody would leave their littles with just anyone. Most ilshan received their housing and food plus a monthly pay. Uh, Tony called it a stipend, I think.”

“So you’d want zyr to live here.”

“Well, yeah.”

“I’m didn’t just get my kid back to send zyr off to live with somebody else, Dex!” Logan thought he was doing well not to punch Ronon, especially when the man rolled his eyes.

“No shit, Wolfe. That’s why I’m showing you all these rooms. Atlantis said right now you have your own rooms, a shared bathroom, and a kitchen and living area. If you guys lived here, you’d both have your own rooms and bathrooms, and you’d get an office,” Ronon countered, stopping Logan in his tracks. “You’d have to share the laundry, kitchen, and living areas with us, but it might be good for Aaron to see that zy’s safe with people other than you. Zy wouldn’t be alone so much, but nobody who’d hurt zyr could get to zyr in here. My team, Lorne, and Doc X are the only people we have visit, but that would be more than Aaron sees now.”

Gesturing vaguely to the space around them, Ronon continued, “This would be zyr room. The bigger one would be yours. I talked to Atlantis, and she could change stuff around inside so it was how you wanted it. She can put up a divider outside so you could have private space out there too, if you wanted.”

Logan shifted his weight and stared at Ronon. “You’re saying you want both of us to move in.”

“No, but I can deal with you if it means Tony, Darius, and the kyta get Aaron.”

Logan snorted. At least Ronon Dex could be counted on to be brutally honest.

“What if Aaron doesn’t want to?”

Ronon raised one eyebrow. “Were you hit in the head while we were gone on Win’nala? Is that why you don’t remember seeing your kyta fall all over zyrself just a little bit ago? Did you miss zyr begging Tony to let zyr help with Darius?”

He had a point, but Logan wasn’t going to let him know that.

“Zy’s excitable. Most Earth teenagers are.”

“You’re seriously going to make me tell Tony you said no,” Ronon growled, “on zyr _birthday._ ”

“Really. You’re going there.”

“On zyr birthday after a _very_ traumatic experience.”

“Are you kidding me, Dex? You’re trying to guilt me now.”

“On zyr birthday, after a very traumatic experience, _and_ after learning zy has to be on bed rest because the jumper crash and everything that happened afterward stressed zyr body?”

“You are!” Logan barked out. “You’re trying to guilt trip me because you know I like Tony better than you!”

“Yep. How am I doing?”

“Not good enough.” Logan started toward the door, then stopped and turned around. “You’re not telling Aaron any of this idea, right?”

“Nope.”

Logan nodded sharply. “Good. I have to think about it.”

He honestly had no idea why he was pretending like it wasn’t going to happen, other than just to mess with Ronon. He’d already realized that it would be good for Aaron: zy wouldn’t be alone so much, zy would have someone zy could talk to when Logan didn’t understand things because he wasn’t a kysra, and zy would have a job and a way to barter for things with people who wouldn’t take advantage of zyr. It would give zyr exposure to safe people who came to visit Tony and Ronon, too. If nothing else, it meant two more people between Aaron and everyone else. 

Then there was Tony’s cooking to consider. Access to food good enough to make him drool just imagining it didn’t hurt. If it didn’t work out, they could always move back into their apartment. That still didn’t mean Logan was just going to cave and let Ronon know he’d won.

With all that on his mind, Logan wasn’t paying attention as he got back to the breakfast room.

“Can we?” Aaron darted over to him, practically bouncing even as zy pleaded. “Can we? Can we _please_ , dad?”

Logan fired a withering glare over his shoulder at Ronon. “I thought you said you wouldn’t talk to zyr about it!”

“I didn’t.” Ronon smirked and strode past him to Tony. “I never said a word to zyr, and I won’t. Don’t have to because Tony already talked to zyr while I was talking to you.”

“You—” Logan bit back an obscene epithet. He tried to come up with something else, but he’d been a Marine too long. Everything he could think of in that moment speculated on the legitimacy of Ronon’s birth or his activities with various family members, barnyard animals, or were suggestions on what he could do to himself. None of those were appropriate for Aaron to hear, and all of them would cost him a fortune in Aaron’s swear jar. Come to think of it, _that_ was a Dex’s fault too!

“Can you take Darius, Ronon?” Tony interrupted Logan’s mental rant. “If I don’t get up and go to the bathroom, I’m going to pee all over this chair, and I’m not cleaning it up.”

Before Ronon could move, Aaron had practically teleported zyrself back to Tony and was holding out zyr arms.

“Oh, please, can I? Please, _please_ , _pleeeease_?”

“Let’s see what he thinks, but don’t be upset if he doesn’t want to. He’s had a very rough time of it,” Tony told zyr gently but firmly.

Resigning himself to living in a household with a teenager, a toddler, a pregnant kysra, and a—well, and a Ronon-freaking-Dex, Logan watched as Aaron crooned and whispered until zy succeeded in coaxing Darius into zyr arms, then took Tony’s place in the chair after Ronon helped Tony get up.

Logan shook his head at Ronon following Tony down the hall as if he was sure zy was going to collapse any second. When they were out of sight, he stepped quietly toward the chair and went to one knee beside Aaron and Darius with a huge mental sigh.

“Look at him,” Aaron murmured in delight. “He’s so pretty. You’re such a pretty baby, Darius. I’m so glad your Dada and Papa get to have you. I can’t believe they got so lucky!”

The corner of Logan’s mouth pulled into a half smile despite all his intentions. Darius really was a sweet little thing, if much too thin and fragile. What really tore at his heart was the way Aaron was lit up, zyr cheeks flushed, zyr eyes sparkling in happiness as zy held the toddler.

Red-violet eyes blinked at Logan from the depths of the soft blanket. He raised one hand, and Darius flinched, pulling into himself before Logan’s hand got anywhere near either of the children.

“Oh, poor baby!”

Aaron lifted Darius a little higher and let him hide his face against zyr neck. Zy pulled zyr feet up and slouched down into the chair so zy could cradle Darius between zyr chest and zyr legs. When zy started humming _Hush Little Baby_ it was over. That was just it. Logan was _done_. Any more of that crap, and he was going to end up spontaneously sprouting ovaries.

“So you really want to live with Tony and Ronon?”

“Yeah, but only with you too,” Aaron said softly, staring at Logan, zyr dark eyes wide and pleading. “Tony said there’s a closet that Atlantis could easily turn into a transporter. You wouldn’t have to see any of us—I mean, you wouldn’t have to see anybody you don’t want to.”

Logan went to both knees so he could lean forward and frame Aaron’s face between his hands.

“Aaron, I want to see _you_ every day—multiple times every day, for that matter. I want to see you as much as I possibly can. I’ve _always_ wanted you with me,” he said fiercely. “You are _my_ baby, and I love you so. Damn. Much.”

Aaron teared up and tried to look away. “Sorry!”

“Shh, it’s alright. There’s nothing wrong with crying, tiger. You let me know if anybody says different. I’ll…well, I’ll tell Atlantis, and she’ll beam ‘em into the stratosphere.”

Aaron giggled wetly.

“Seriously, I want you to think about it for a few days, but if you decide you’d like to live here, then that’s what we’ll do,” Logan declared.

Staring at Logan as if he’d just promised zyr the moon, stars, and a ship to explore them, Aaron gasped, “Really?!”

“Yep. I’m already thinking about that cheesecake Tony makes. If I’m lucky, I’ll still fit in the regular transporter after I’ve eaten as much as I can convince zyr to bake.”

Positively beaming at him, Aaron said, “I bet _my_ cheesecake is better than zyrs!”

Hearing Tony and Ronon returning, Ronon saying something about wanting to carry Tony and getting shut down hard, Logan pushed himself to his feet and laid a smacking kiss on the top of Aaron’s head, ruffling zyr hair afterward.

Smiling at Aaron’s delighted complaint of, “Daaaad!” Logan said, “Well, it’ll be tough, but I’m willing to take one for the team and put both cheesecakes to the test as many times as it takes to declare a winner.”

*~*~*~*

“This isn’t what I had planned for your birthday, m’kysra.”

Tony barely glanced up from where zy was sitting propped up against their headboard with enough pillows supporting zyr that zy was a little concerned Ronon or Atlantis had gone around stealing them from other people. Surely zy and Ronon hadn’t had so many before!

“It’s not my birthday,” zy replied absently.

Darius was dressed in his footed pajama sleeper, which Atlantis had magically produced for him as soon as Aaron and Logan left, and the diaper Ronon had gotten out of storage. They didn’t know if he was potty-trained, but they thought it was better to assume not. He was perched in zyr lap, and zy was trying to feed him more of the micronutrient-rich and easily digested cereal Doc Xander and given them.

From the scan Atlantis had done, Darius wasn’t as starved as some of the worst cases Doc Xander had treated, but he had suffered malnutrition for the majority of his life followed by starvation for the last several months. Normally that would mean he would have to be in the hospital, but Xander had released him to Tony and Ronon’s care once Atlantis had manifested her physical form and explained about planning to heal him while he slept that very night.

Even after he was healed, they’d have to be careful not to give in to the temptation to stuff him full and cause refeeding syndrome. Atlantis was going to use her nanites to heal Darius’ eyes, organs, bones, and everything else, but his stomach still needed to get used to having contents to digest on a regular basis before he’d be able to eat much normal food. Doc had said the cereal was what he’d used when he was working with Doctors without Borders, but Darius wasn’t thrilled with it, to say the least. Tony couldn’t say zy blamed him.

“It’s not your birthday?” Ronon frowned. “But today is Earth June twentieth.”

Tony nearly dropped the spoon. “What?”

“It’s Earther June twentieth. That’s your birthday, right?”

Tony blinked stupidly at him. “Yeah, yeah it is. I just…. I didn’t realize how much time has gone by. I guess I’ve gotten used to the Pegasus calendar. I didn’t think in Earth months even when we were back there.”

“Well, now your birthday can be Bhaskara eleventh, if you want.”

Giving up on getting Darius to choke down any more of the cereal, Tony handed the small Pyrex bowl, which was actually just a six-ounce custard cup, and the bright green plastic infant spoon to Ronon so he could put them on the bedside table. Zy readjusted Darius on zyr lap, automatically bringing the blankets up to his neck and rubbing his back.

As usual, Darius stuck his thumb in his mouth and snuggled as close as humanly possible without saying a word. Tony was a little concerned that Darius hadn’t made _any_ sounds at all since they’d brought him home. Now that zy thought about it, he hadn’t made any sounds since they’d tucked him between them last night. Zy’d have to ask Doc about that later.

“Sateda’s year is longer, so I’ll have more time between birthdays, right? Sounds good to me!”

“I’m looking forward to getting to grow old with you, m’kysra,” Ronon rumbled, shoving some of the pillows away so he could slide in beside Tony and Darius, slipping one arm behind Tony’s back so zy was leaning against him. Darius went stiff and still. He watched Ronon with wide, wary eyes until apparently deciding he wasn’t a threat. Then he relaxed and let his eyes fall half-shut, sucking one thumb, and the other hand fisted in Tony’s t-shirt as he started to fall asleep.

Tony grinned. “I thought Teyla said you hated that movie!”

“I liked that line. Getting old in Pegasus….” Ronon shrugged one shoulder slightly. “It’s something to be celebrated. Not a lot of people get to, but I want us to be some of the ones who do. I want to get old and grey and tell all our anakyta how I traveled to another galaxy to find their andaeda and bring zyr back to Pegasus.”

“I want to grow old with you, too,” Tony murmured, no longer teasing. “And don’t worry about my birthday. Obviously, I forgot about it. Being here with you, with our family is more than I could’ve dreamed back when I lived on Earth. I didn’t know it was possible to wake up happy every day.”

Ronon kissed zyr softly, his lips reverent on zyrs the way he got sometimes.

Nudging their noses together, he asked, “Even the days you spent puking?”

Tony laughed softly. “Even those. I’ve never had a moment’s regret that I met you in that bar that night.”

Eyes lighting up, Ronon addressed the ceiling, as they all tended to do when talking to the city. “Atlantis, you got the things?”

What looked like a clear glass, old-fashioned cookie jar appeared on Ronon’s thighs. It was filled with marbles about the size of a quarter. Each marble looked like a tiny, pearlescent planet with land masses, bodies of water, and white, swirling weather systems inside.

Ronon steadied it and slid it over so it balanced on both their legs, since Tony’s other thigh was occupied by their son.

“What’s this?” Tony asked.

“We’re not gonna forget your birthday, m’kysra, because I already remembered. Here, she keyed it to you, so you have to open the lid.” Ronon tilted the container so it would be easier for Tony to grip the handle.

“Huh, okay.” Intrigued, Tony reached out and took hold of the spherical handle on top of the clear lid. It looked a lot like the images of new Sateda zy’d seen, and it lit up from within as soon as Tony grasped it, letting zyr lift the lid from the main container. “Now what?”

Ronon cleared his throat, making Tony glance up at him to see his cheeks and the tips of his ears were flushed. Zy was surprised to realize that he was nervous.

“I wish—” he cleared his throat again. “I wish I could give you everything, all the planets in all the galaxies. I can’t, so I had Atlantis make these small ones for you.” He chose one and held it out to zyr. “Here. Say ‘Satedan.’”

“Satedan,” Tony said, taking the little marble.

It glowed, and Ronon’s voice came from it, saying something in a language zy had begun to recognize the sound of even if zy couldn’t understand most of the words yet.

When recorded-Ronon finished, the very real Ronon instructed, “Say ‘English.’”

“English.”

The marble glowed, and again it was Ronon’s voice: _I love the way you smile at me; it makes my heart feel light._

Ronon tilted the jar. “Try another one.”

“Do I need to say anything?”

“No, they all change if one does. They’re all set to English now.”

Tony chose another marble. It lit up, and recorded-Ronon said, _I love how loud you are when we make love._

Tony snickered, replacing that one and choosing another.

_I love that your second toe is longer than your big toe, but only on one foot._

“What? It is not!”

Ronon smirked. “Yes it is. I’ve rubbed your feet, amalecto, so I know.”

_I love the way you laugh._

Catching on to the theme, Tony asked, “Are all of these like this? There have to be a hundred!”

“Yeah, a hundred and twenty-two. I was just gonna do thirty-four because that’s how many years old you are, but there were so many other things to say that I had to keep going.”

Tony gaped at him. “And they’re all like this, things you love about me?”

Ronon gave zyr a sheepish grin. “There’s a lot about you to love.”

“I—I _wow._ That’s….” Tony was so stunned zy could hardly speak. Instead, zy picked out another marble.

_I love how you see to the heart of people. It makes me wonder what it was that you saw in me._

“I think I knew you weren’t from Earth, even if I didn’t realize it at the time,” Tony whispered. “I saw that you were different, that I could trust you with my body and my heart. I think you are the only person I ever would’ve trusted that way.”

“We were meant to be together,” Ronon agreed. “I wanted to find a kysra, but it only took a couple minutes before your gender didn’t matter so much; I only wanted _you_.”

It was either burst into a mess of hormonal tears, or kiss Ronon for that, so zy managed to do a little of both.

Zy continued listening to each of the planet marbles. Some were cute, like the one that said: _I love that you’re stubborn, even when it drives me crazy. Sometimes I love that about you_ because _it drives me crazy._

Some were funny: _I love the way you joke and make hard things easier to get through. (You still don’t ooze sunshine, m’kysra, but that’s a good thing. If you did, we’d never be able to sleep.)_

Some were sexy: _I love how green your eyes turn and the way your breath hitches when you’re about to come._

Some broke zyr heart: _I love that when we were hurt, you figured out how to help us start to heal._

Some were sweet: _I love how it feels to hold you in my arms. I think my body was made to fit with yours._

All of them overwhelmed Tony with how much effort Ronon had gone to. Zy was astonished at how much he had thought about zyr, at all the little things he had noticed about zyr, and his desire to make sure zy knew exactly how much he loved zyr.

When they had gone through them all, Tony wiped the tears from zyr cheeks. Zy tilted zyr head so zy could gaze into zyr husband’s eyes.

“Thank you. This means more to me than anything you could’ve done.” Zy sniffed and blinked away a few more tears. “I don’t have a hundred, but I can start with this: I love you, Ronon. I love you because you are everything I always wanted but never would’ve dared to wish for.”

*~*~*~*

Tony woke with a start several hours later. How had zy and Ronon both slept through their alarm?

//Hush, kysra,// Atlantis calmed zyr before zy could do more than lift zyr head from zyr pillow. //I am keeping your little one asleep. There is much work my nanites must complete before I allow him to wake. Waking now would cause him a great deal of discomfort and distress.//

Tony let zyrself relax into the bed once more. Darius’ breaths were even, gentle puffs against zyr throat, his curls soft beneath zyr chin.

“Bad?” zy whispered.

Ronon shifted and tightened his arm around them but didn’t wake.

//He is very ill, Tony. I will repair him, but it is requiring more delicacy than I anticipated due to genetic problems that would not have presented if he had not been initially underfed, then starved for a great deal of his life. I wished to know if it would be acceptable to change his DNA similarly to the way I changed yours and Rodney’s. I know I said I would not change anyone without consent, but he is too young to understand. As his daetor, I ask your consent instead.//

Shit. That wasn’t a decision Tony felt comfortable making on zyr own.

“Ronon,” zy whispered. “Ronon, can you wake up for a second?”

Ronon woke before Tony had finished zyr question, immediately on alert.

“It’s okay, nothing’s wrong, but Atlantis is working on Darius. She needs our input.”

Ronon blinked, relaxed, and yawned so wide Tony could see his tonsils…and smell his halitosis. Tony was going to tell Poisson zy voted _no_ for any further [shit-on-a-shingle](https://www.cooksinfo.com/shit-on-a-shingle-recipe) over tava beans experiments.

“Wha?”

//I wish to change Darius’ DNA to make him Satedan.//

Ronon let his eyes fall closed and rubbed his face against his pillow. “Wha’ssa difference?”

//Darius currently lacks several immunities I could encode using your and Tony’s DNA. He could be vaccinated for such things, but I see no reason to cause him the discomfort,// Atlantis explained. //Furthermore, he would change physically. He would grow stronger and taller than his current genetics allow. Satedans are descended from Kysra, whom we purposely designed to have denser bones as well as enhanced musculature and more efficient gas exchange in zyr lungs. Former Sateda’s gravity and oxygen levels required this if we wished the population to flourish.//

“So Sateda was Vulcan?” Tony asked, bemused.

Atlantis huffed, //No, the climate was quite diverse…but I suppose the concept is not _entirely_ dissimilar.//

“What about his skin color? Would that change?” Ronon asked, opening his eyes and watching Tony’s expression.

//It might change a small amount, but unless I intentionally alter his melanin production, he would retain the very fairest of complexions,// she responded. //If you wished, it would be easy to do such a thing. I find my humanoid form’s skin tone to be most lovely. He would be pretty that shade.//

“No!” Tony immediately refused, a knee-jerk response, but one zy didn’t see changing without a really good reason. “No. I don’t want anyone, especially Darius himself, to think that we thought there was anything wrong with the way he looks. If he chooses to change how he looks when he is old enough to decide for himself, that’s one thing. I refuse to perpetuate any kind of prejudice based on skin color.”

“It would make his life easier, m’kysra. He will always be the odd one if he’s so different.” Ronon hesitantly pointed out.

He’d started a gentle motion with his thumb against Tony’s spine, so zy knew the question wasn’t meant to upset zyr. He was just concerned.

“Would it? I’m not sure. Would it just make him think that the people of Win’nala were right, and there _was_ something wrong with him?” Tony made a face and conceded, “You’re not wrong about being obviously different than other children, though. If he comes to us and asks to be changed, then we’ll talk about it at that point. Even then, he’s going to have to convince me.”

//The main reason I suggested I change his skin tone is that he will burn quite painfully if he is in the sun for much time. If you do not wish me to change his skin tone, than I request you permit me to alter it so he will tan instead of burning. I will also add a genetic resistance to cancers of the skin.// Atlantis added casually, //I’ve done that for you and Rodney already,//

Tony frowned. “You did?”

//Of course. You had a few spots, but Rodney had several areas of mutating, pre-cancer cells due to the amounts of laboratory radiation he has been exposed to over his life. Do not be concerned; I corrected all of that.//

“Wait, what’s she saying? She cut me out.”

Oh, right. Ronon didn’t know Rodney had been changed.

“She said she added the anti-cancer whatever-it-is to my skin because I had pre-cancer cells from how much time I used to spend in the sun on Earth. She healed all that up while she was there.”

Ronon eyed zyr skeptically.

Tony changed the subject. “So we say yes to making Darius Satedan, no to changing his physical looks too obviously, and yes to tanning not burning, and yes to anti-cancer, right?”

“Yeah,” Ronon agreed. “You’re still gonna make sure he can see in our light, right?”

//Yes. Would you object if I made the blue of his irises a little darker? He will still have violet eyes in some light, but it is another measure to make his eyes less sensitive to light and decrease the likelihood of macular degeneration along with some other health problems within the eye.//

That made sense to Tony. It wasn’t changing him just because he was different.

“I’m alright with deepening the color of blue, but not changing the general color to green or brown or anything like that. I saw something that said people with brown eyes are the least at risk for eye-related health problems, but I still want him to have the color he was born with as much as is safe for him.”

//As you wish, Tony.//

Ronon snorted. “National Geographic movie? Even I can recognize those now.”

“New York Times, actually,” Tony retorted with a grin. “It’s an Earther company that reports news, business, and politics but has other sections that talk about science, art, sports, and more.”

“Okay, whatever. I just care that Darius is healthy. I don’t care what color his skin or his eyes are. Except if you turn him green or something. I want him to look _human_.”

Tony grinned until a yawn took over.

Ronon asked, “What about feeding him? Doc said we were supposed to feed him every two hours.”

//I have been warming the proper amount of cereal and beaming it directly into his stomach,// Atlantis told them. //I have appropriated saline from Doc Xander so that I will be able to begin dealing with his dehydration as well. At the moment, Darius’ heart cannot tolerate the work of added fluids to circulate. That will change when the DNA alterations are complete and my nanites can work directly on the heart muscle, then the veins and arteries.//

Tony made a wounded sound and cradled the back of Darius’ head as if that would protect him from the past.

“He’ll be okay, m’kysra. You know Atlantis wouldn’t have said she could heal him if she couldn’t,” Ronon soothed, yet he looked at least as upset as Tony was.

“I know. It just kills me that he’s suffered like that. He’s too little to have been through so much.”

“He’s with us now, and nobody’s gonna hurt him anymore,” he returned fiercely. “We’re his parents, and we’ll love him and protect him now. He’ll be okay.”

“I hope so,” Tony said dubiously.

“Don’t worry. The only time he’ll experience trauma now is when he catches us having sex. I’m _still_ traumatized from all the times I accidentally caught my parents. The house back then was way smaller than our place, so all us kids learned how to sleep with a pillow over our ears so we didn’t have to hear them.”

That made Tony chuckle a little. “I suppose you didn’t end up with so many children in your family because your parents were celibate.”

“Nope. Not even close.” Ronon yawned again. “’Lantis, is that all you needed from us? If we don’t need to feed him, then I’m probably going to sleep again. I’m supposed to run with Sheppard in the morning.”

//That is all,// she confirmed.

Tony groaned. “I have to get up. Can you hang onto him?”

“Sure.” Ronon slid his palm from where it was resting on Tony’s hip, up to Darius’ chest, curling his arm between him and Tony.

Tony rolled to zyr back and groaned again when the pins-and-needles feeling started. “Crap. My arm is completely asleep, and so is my hip. I didn’t know my hip _could_ go to sleep.”

Ronon shifted, making Tony frown until zy realized that he was rolling onto his back; he was just taking Darius with him and making sure no warmth escaped the bedding.

“Mine too. Normally, we just sprawl over each other and don’t have to worry about not squishing a tiny person. I guess we’ll have to figure out a way to have him with us that doesn’t make it so we can’t move.”

Attempting to sit up, failing and having to roll to the other side before zy actually made it upright, Tony pointed to zyr belly. “Yeah, by that point, this one will be stomping all over my insides. Tonight is evidence that zy’s figured out where my bladder is. I doubt restful sleep is in _our_ near future.”

As Tony hobbled toward the bathroom, zy muttered, “How the hell am I supposed to aim my dick when it’s my right arm that’s asleep?”

Before the bathroom door slid closed, zy could’ve sworn zy heard Ronon snickering.

*~*~*~*

_Chernday, Bhaskara 12, First Year of the Returned  
(June 21, 2008)_

Ronon caught up to Sheppard close to that metal sculpture Tony liked in the middle of the city.

“Morning,” Sheppard said, not looking completely awake yet.

Ronon grunted—his standard greeting when they ran together. He’d wake up by the time they had three or four miles behind them. That’d put them close to the north pier, and Sheppard always liked to stop and watch the sun rise for a little bit. Or so he claimed. Ronon never really believed it because Sheppard “watched” while half hanging over that one sculpture he’d named Bessie for some unfathomable reason. It was part of a group of the things they’d come across one morning, but Sheppard hadn’t felt the need to name any of those.

They ran in silence for a long time, Ronon purposely slowing his pace. He sort of wanted to talk to Sheppard, and he didn’t think the other man would be able to talk if he couldn’t breathe.

“Wanna talk about my feelings,” Ronon started.

“Whuh?!”

Ronon grabbed Sheppard’s arm before he could completely hit the ground after tripping over his own feet when he’d turned his head to stare at Ronon in horror.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk to Tony about this? I thought that’s what married people did.”

“No.”

“Teyla?” Sheppard tried again, sounding more desperate. “Not that I’m not willing to talk about—about your, uh, _feelings_. I just don’t have much experience with that sort of thing.”

“Nope. You don’t have to talk much. That help?”

Sheppard side-eyed him warily. “Maybe?”

“What if I tell you that you have a hard time keeping up with me because The Five designed my people to have better muscles, bones, and lungs?”

“Is it true?”

“Yep.”

“So you’re saying it’s not me; it’s you?”

“Yep.”

“Yeah, that helps a little.” Sheppard wiped his forehead with the back of the hand not holding the water bottle. “I suppose I could listen…but only ‘till we get to Bessie! You better have all your feelings worked out by then.”

“’kay.” Ronon tried to figure out how to start. Maybe he should be clear about one thing. “You can’t talk about this to Tony.”

“I can promise you I’ll never repeat a word. I’ll do my very best not to think about it afterward.”

“’kay. I’m a papa.”

Sheppard side-eyed him again. “I had noticed that, what with the pregnant kysra you brought back from Earth a while back.”

“No, I mean I have a son. _Now_. I have a son here now, not a few months away.”

Sheppard was silent for several seconds.

"You’re freaking out,” he finally said, understanding dawning. “You, Ronon Dex, who can face down the most terrifying beings I’ve ever encountered. _You_ are freaking out.”

Ronon grunted. “Can only screw up killin’ a Wraith once. Lots of ways to screw up being a papa.”

“Granted, that’s true.”

Ronon made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl.

“Then again, you had good parents, right? I mean, you probably wouldn’t be so eager for the whole thing if you’d had crappy parents.”

“Yeah, Dada and Papa were amazing.”

“There you go. You know what to do to be a good dad, uh, papa,” he panted. “From the things I’ve heard Rodney say times when I very carefully didn’t listen—because it sounded like he was planning on ruining someone’s life back on Earth, and I’m technically supposed to try to stop that sort of thing—Tony had a crappy childhood.”

“Very.”

“Okay, so you know all the things to do to be a good parent, and zy knows all the things _not_ to do. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

He had a point.

The sculpture garden thing came into view around the last building, and Sheppard steered them toward it, as usual.

“Plus, you have Atlantis. She’s not going to let you raise a kid prone to Wraith worship or something else horrible.”

“True,” he admitted as they slowed to a stop at the sculptures.

“Good. Glad I could help.” Sheppard twisted the top of the bottle and sprayed his face, then drank a bunch more. “Now. You do whatever it is you do, and me and Bessie here are going to watch the sun come up.”

Ronon rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything else as Sheppard assumed his regular position, half leaning, half hanging over the rounded part of the sculpture as he panted.

*~*~*~*

“Nice run?”

At Tony’s voice, Ronon lifted his head from where he had been standing with his palms pressed flat against the shower wall, his head hanging between his arms as the hot water poured down his body.

“Yeah. It was good we went running. Sheppard wasn’t kidding when he said he was getting out of shape from sitting in meetings all day. I went slow, and we still had to stop three times so he could ‘watch the sun rise,’” he scoffed.

Not really awake yet, Tony only gave a hum of amusement. Zy stripped off zyr clothes and slipped between the shower doors, joining Ronon under the warm spray.

“Aren’t you on bed rest?”

“Mmhmm,” Tony agreed, allowing Ronon to take the cloth and bath gel from zyr.

Ronon snorted and worked up a lather so he could begin to wash Tony. He loved that if they showered together, this was something Tony nearly always permitted him to do for zyr. The only times zy didn’t was when they really were showering together to save time because they were late or nearly so. They’d showered after returning from Win’nala, and Ronon had finished washing already that morning, so now it was more about caring for each other than anything else. Sleeping in clean clothes in clean bedding wouldn’t have gotten Tony dirty or sweaty.

When Tony was awake enough to take the cloth for zyr turn washing Ronon, he asked, “Darius okay?”

“Yeah, Atlantis is watching him. He’s still asleep right now, and she said he might stay asleep for a while yet. His body is getting used to all the changes.”

“Did she give you a list of what she did?”

“No. She said she would tell me if I insisted, but I was better off not knowing.”

Tony was making zyr worried face, so Ronon tried to reassure zyr. “She wouldn’t keep anything from you that you really needed to know, so I think she must be right.”

“I hope so. I did tell her to make sure to let us know if she thought he was close to waking up. I don’t want his first morning here to be scary for him.”

“Good idea.” He privately thought Darius would be scared because everything would be so different from what he was used to. Add to that how much Atlantis changed his body and vision, and nothing was going to feel familiar or safe.

Except Tony. Probably. Hopefully.

Thinking about it further, he turned back around and took the cloth from Tony, wringing it out and tossing it over the little bar made for it to hang from to dry. “It might be best if he wakes up while you’re holding him, maybe with his face against you so he hears you before he sees anything.”

Tony’s eyebrows drew together momentarily before understanding dawned. “Oh, of course. That’s a really smart plan. If he was limited to indistinct shapes before, seeing me before he heard me could freak him out. We’ll need to keep the room pretty dim at first too, just until he has a chance to get a handle on the way things look now.”

Ronon grunted his agreement and switched off the water, not entirely surprised when his and Tony’s towels appeared over their shoulders. It wasn’t like Atlantis ever stopped paying attention to them, but sometimes she made it more obvious than others.

“How ‘bout I go make breakfast for us?”

Tony froze in the middle of rubbing the towel over zyr head and stared at him.

“One time! I only ever did that _once_ ,” he grumped. “I know there’s that strawberry porridge stuff you like. I can make a big bowl of that we can all share.”

Tony smirked. “Yeah, I think you should be able to handle that. I’ll throw my pj pants back on and curl up with Darius until it’s ready.”

“Nah, I’ll just bring it back here.” He used zyr towel to pull zyr closer so he could kiss zyr softly. “We still have our appointment with Doc today. You want to be able to tell him you stayed in bed, right?”

Tony groaned. “What is it about him? I worked undercover and could lie to murderous mob bosses, but if I even think about lying to him, he somehow knows and gives me that _look_.”

Ronon laughed, pushing open the shower door and heading for the robe he’d brought to wear. On the way, he picked up Tony’s pajama pants and handed them to zyr.

“You know, there’s a way to make him stop giving you that look.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” zy groused, briefly using Ronon to balance while zy slid on the soft clothes. “Go make breakfast, husband. Let me stick to coming up with the bright ideas.”

“Yes, meraska.”

*~*~*~*

//Aaron, Ronon wishes to see you.//

Aaron startled and looked up from the book zy was reading. Zy didn’t know how Dr. McKay had done it, but all of zyr things from home had somehow made it to zyr new apartment, including the huge book collection that been hidden in plastic tubs in zyr old closet and under zyr bed. The sci-fi ones seemed a little silly now, but zy was grateful to have them anyway.

“Um, does he want me to come up there?” zy asked hopefully. Maybe he and Tony wanted zyr to watch Darius for them.

//Yes, young one.//

“Okay.”

After carefully placing zyr bookmarker in zyr book, Aaron rolled off the sofa onto zyr knees and pushed zyrself up from there. Zy hurried to put on zyr shoes, which was silly since zy’d just have to take them off again, and darted out the door and down the hall to the transporter on that level.

“Good. C’mere.”

Ronon grabbed zyr by the hand and pulled zyr out of the transporter practically before Aaron had finished rematerializing. That’s what it felt like, anyway.

“My shoes!”

“It’s okay. Need your help.”

They ended up standing in a storage room that looked like a baby store had exploded all over everything.

“Oh my gosh!”

“Yeah. Tony said we need a diaper bag for Darius. I don’t know what that means, but you do, right?”

Aaron didn’t think zy’d ever heard Ronon sound so desperate.

“Um, yeah? I mean, I know what babies and toddlers need, so I could put one together if you have a bag of some sort.”

Ronon didn’t say anything, but he proceeded to open a closet and pull out two different diaper bags. Aaron took the grey one with the lime green zippers and trim.

“Oh, good! This is a one of my favorites because it has a—never mind.”

Ronon looked distinctly relieved that Aaron had decided not to explain.

“So we need diapers first. What ones did you put on him?” Aaron asked, nodding when Ronon just handed zyr a new bag. “Good, these look like the right size for him. I’ll put in a bunch of these, and then we need baby wipes; no, not the ones you already opened. You’ll want to keep some just in the diaper bag and others open for whenever you need to change him here. How about creams?”

Ronon gave zyr a choice of six. It went on like that. For everything zy asked for, Ronon would either stare at zyr with a panicked look or offer zyr, like, ten choices. It turned out they even had a few clothes because Darius was tiny and fit into 14-month sleepers and onesies. About half way through, zy started to wonder if Tony had somehow ransacked a baby store on the way out of town…or away from Earth. Whichever.

Zy even stumbled over the best baby carrier ever invented: “Oooh, you have [K’tan](https://www.babyktan.com/activewrap) Actives! These are great!” Ronon started to open the bag Aaron had just handed him, but Aaron shook zyr head. “No, this you might want to use right away. I’ll show you.”

“Crap. ‘Lantis says Tony needs us. This way.”

Again, Aaron found zyrself being hustled down the hall, but into the master bedroom this time. Tony and Darius were sitting in the middle of the bed, both wrapped in towels and clinging to each other. Darius was crying, albeit silently, and Tony looked like zy was on the verge of it.

“What _happened_?!” zy exclaimed, hurrying to them and crawling onto the bed with them.

“I’m a complete failure as a parent. I have _no_ idea what I’m doing!” Tony moaned.

“Wow, that’s totally wrong, but I’ve heard everybody says that at first. Congratulations on being normal, I guess?”

Aaron didn’t add that they’d gotten a toddler with physical and emotional trauma in the middle of their first pregnancy. Most people didn’t have that much added difficulty on top of getting a baby.

Oh no! That meant _Aaron_ was going to have to be the knowledgeable one, the one in charge! _Oh geez!_

Taking a deep breath, Aaron sucked it up and did something terrifying, something zy’d never done before: _zy told an XY what to do!_

“Okay, Ronon, give me the diaper bag. Tony, give me the baby, then put clothes on.” When Tony gave zyr a look of dismay, zy amended, “Ronon, bring Tony the clothes so zy can put them on right here while I show you what to do.”

That got a nod and Darius handed to zyr.

“Hey, bugaboo. My pretty Darius is having a rough day today, huh?” zy crooned, adding a bunch of nonsense afterward in a sweet voice. Words didn’t matter so much as tone, especially when kids as young as Darius were upset.

It only took zyr a few minutes to have him in a diaper, dressed in a cotton sleeper inside another fuzzy sleeper (after Atlantis mentioned he still needed the insulation for warmth even though his body was repaired), and snuggled into the K’tan in the [“hug”](https://youtu.be/Tcjbqp5oB48) position against zyr own chest because it had taken about one minute flat to figure out that Tony needed to talk through everything zy thought zy had done wrong with Ronon, and Darius was just going to pick up on that upset all over again.

From what Aaron could tell, Tony hadn’t done anything wrong. Darius had been upset because he’d used his diaper while he was sleeping, and he’d gotten more upset when Tony had tried to give him a bath. Then they’d fed off each other’s distress, and everything had gotten worse. It wasn’t a horrible thing, and it wasn’t like it was the last time something like that was going to happen. Even Aaron had had it happen at the daycare, and zy had only worked there a few days a week!

Darius had shoved his thumb back in his mouth and was sucking for dear life in between tapering off sniffles. Aaron was really glad zy’d thought to put a few of those cloth diapers in the bag even though Darius didn’t need to be burped. One was protecting zyr shirt from the snot and baby slobber he was producing at that very moment.

“Hmm. Atlantis? Do they have any of those really soft, fuzzy lap blankets?”

A sage green blanket appeared on the bed, which was perfect.

“Thank you.”

//Of course, Aaron.//

Zy unfolded it and draped it around Darius, tucking it under and around him and bringing the top up over one of zyr shoulders so Darius would still be able to see out if he wanted to, but he could hide too. He’d seemed to like that last night.

Yep. He got a lot calmer right away and even reached for the blanket to pull it over his head more.

“You like being a little turtle, don’cha? Such a cute little turtle, huh? Yeah you are. My cute little Dari-turtle.”

“How did you do that?” Tony was staring at them with a half-relieved, half-despairing look.

“He’s secretly a ninja turtle: baby in a half-shell! Baby powers!” Aaron sing-songed, snickering when Tony and Ronon simultaneously turned their heads and raised one eyebrow at each other, asking if they were sure zy was okay. “For real, it’s just practice, guys. I’ve dealt with a _lot_ of upset babies and little kids, so this wasn’t a big deal. It seemed awful to you because this was the first time he got upset, which made you get upset, and then you both kept getting more and more upset.”

“Escalated,” Tony said with a sigh. “We escalated the situation, just like in a hostage crisis.”

Aaron carefully crawled off the ginormous bed. “Sure, okay. Want me to show you how to use the K’tan?”

Ronon snatched up the diaper bag and pointed to it. “Gotta carry this. And help Tony balance.”

Tony shot Ronon a dirty look but shook zyr head. “We’re going to see Doc X. I won’t be able to hold him in the room, so you might as well keep him for right now.”

Nonplussed, Aaron replied, “Oh. I could do that. You want me to stay here, or should I go back to my dad’s apartment until you get back?”

“No!”

“No!”

“Huh?”

“We want you to come with us,” Tony managed to explain. “Bring the little half-shell with us like you’re a personal transportation device and babysitter—”

“ _Ilshan_.”

“—all in one.”

“Um, but I—”

“Bet you want to see the kyta live on the ALI, right?” Ronon interrupted.

Aaron’s mouth closed with a snap.

That was not fair at all. The only person who liked the baby videos more than Aaron—and who wasn’t also the baby’s parent—was Dr. McKay. And _he_ thought they were good to relax and go to sleep with, like watching _fish_!

“When is the appointment?”

“Atlantis?”

//Three minutes ago, Tony.//

“Shi—oot. So?” Zy gave Aaron an expectant look.

Aaron sighed. “I take it Atlantis is beaming us directly there?”

“Excellent plan. Let’s bunch up so we don’t end up taking out have the equipment or something.”

//As if I would ever do such shoddy teleportation!// Atlantis huffed indignantly.

Aaron blinked, and then zy was looking at a started Doc Xander.

“Well. Not what I was expecting, but I’ll take it,” he said mildly with a glance toward Tony. “You know the drill by now.”

Tony made a face.

“I could always just draw more blood.”

Tony grumbled something that would have earned Aaron $3 in the Swear Jar if zyr father had said it, if not more! Displeased about it or not, Tony snapped up the specimen cup and headed toward the bathroom.

“I’ll ask you to step into the main infirmary for a few minutes, Aaron. I need to do a physical exam, but when I’m finished with that, you and Darius can come back.”

Aaron’s arms tightened around Darius. Wait, what? That wasn’t a part of the deal!

Aaron gave Ronon a panicked look, but that—that _jerk_ tried to hand over the diaper bag instead of doing anything useful!

“Um, but, uh, I….”

Doc Xander looked up from the tablet he’d gone back to reviewing, and Aaron tried to hunch zyr shoulders, which wasn’t really possibly when wearing a baby in a K’tan.

“Ah, you probably haven’t been here long enough to be comfortable without a familiar face. Let me introduce you to a very nice young man who can keep you company until Atlantis lets you know we’re ready for you. I know he will appreciate the company.”

“But—!”

Aaron wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but zy ended up in the main infirmary with Doc Xander introducing zyr to that same hot guy zy’d made an idiot of zyrself in front of the last time zy’d let Tony drag zyr somewhere!

Oh no! Of all people in the city, why _him_?!

Zy wondered if zy could talk Atlantis into beaming zyr away. That, or opening the floor and swallowing zyr.

“—and I believe you know Darius already, Corporal. I’ll leave you two to chat for a few minutes.”

Red Eagle gave zyr a crooked grin. “Is that what that green lump is? I thought you might have a real bad infection of some kind.”

Okay, he wasn’t nearly so hot now. Aaron huffed and scowled at the stupid XY lying in the hospital bed. He probably deserved whatever he had!

“No, Darius is wrapped in a blanket, Mr. Green Snake or whatever your name is.”

The second after zy said it, zy felt guilty for making fun of somebody's name, but zy couldn’t un-say it. Zy bit zyr lip and cuddled Darius instead, noting that he had fallen asleep. Well, that wasn’t a surprise. He’d probably worn himself out with that crying, which _had_ been a little scary, but only because it was silent instead of the normal wailing.

Rather than being offended, Red Eagle cracked up. “Whoa, so little wolf has fangs after all!”

“It’s just Wolfe,” zy snapped, irritated all over again, “not Little Wolfe.”

Red Eagle’s laughter faded back to that same crooked grin. “I know, darlin’. I was just teasing ya. How about we try first names? I’m Austin.”

“Aaron,” zy said grudgingly, tucking the blanket more securely around Darius’ head. “But I’m sure you know. Even if Doc Xander hadn’t introduced us, _everybody_ knows. They know before anybody tells them.”

“It probably seems like a big place right now, but it’ll feel smaller soon. When it does, you’ll be curious about new people too,” Austin told zyr frankly, not in that sticky-sweet tone some people used with delts—er—kysra, as if they were all stupid. “People are gonna be more curious ‘bout you ‘cause of who your daddy is. He’s really important, so people pay attention to him. Anybody who’s been in his office has seen your picture, but the Sgt. Major doesn’t talk much about his private life.” He shrugged. “Makes people more interested instead of less.”

“Oh.” Aaron supposed that made sense, even if zy didn’t like it. Zy was glad zyr dad had a photo of zyr in his office, just like Tony’d said (Aaron hadn’t been there yet because there were lots of really huge, intimidating military guys all over, and leaving the apartment was terrifying), but Aaron was used to being able to fade into the background. Nobody at school had known zy existed except zyr best friend. Even at home, zy stayed quiet and stayed in zyr room most of the time.

“Hey, would you do me a favor?”

Zy narrowed zyr eyes warily. Zy had learned better than to agree without knowing what zy was getting into. People had weird ideas about delts on Earth and what they’d be willing to do for them.

“Like what?”

“Let me see Darius? I was on Win’nala when the Vedaeus gave him to Tony and Ronon. It’d be nice to see he’s really okay.”

“Oh,” zy said stupidly. That wasn’t what zy’d expected, though zy didn’t know what zy _had_ expected either.

Austin raised both arms toward zyr and wiggled his fingers while making an exaggerated begging face.

“I can’t give him to you. He’s sleeping, and it would be hard to get him out of the K’tan and back into it without waking him up.”

Austin’s face fell. He dropped his hands to his lap. “Oh, well, could I just see him? I mean, you could come a skosh closer and move the blanket a little so I could see his face. I know you’re probably keeping it dark for him, but just a tiny bit wouldn’t wake him up, right?”

“Maybe?” It would probably be okay. Darius was sleeping hard enough his thumb had fallen out of his mouth.

Against zyr better judgement, zy moved toward the Austin. He watched zyr patiently, so zy soon found zyrself half sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning over so he could see Darius.

Even though they had been talking in normal tones, Austin reached out two fingers and touched the backs to Darius’ cheek ever so gently, whispering, “Aw, he really is all tuckered out. Geez, all cleaned up, he’s a pretty little guy, ain’t he?”

“That’s what I said,” Aaron replied, grinning happily. When zy glanced up, Austin was looking at zyr weird and blinking. “Are you okay? I could go get a doctor or nurse for you.”

He seemed to snap himself out of whatever it was, “Nah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Because I could—”

The curtain flicked back, and one of those huge, scary military guys with piercing blue eyes stood in the opening. His uniform had the black stripe, like Aaron’s dad, so zy knew he wasn’t a doctor.

Aaron gasped and instinctively jumped to zyr feet, tightening both arms protectively around Darius. Zy backed away, zyr heart pounding, and nearly ended up back on Austin’s bed.

“Easy, darlin,’” he said, steadying zyr with one hand. Much louder, he added, “Major Rutherford, it’d be much appreciated if you could keep from scarin’ the life outta Aaron here with that ugly mug o’ yours.”

The Major huffed and rolled his eyes, which made his face relax and look less scary. It was still weird how he went back to staring at Aaron.

He touched the comm in his ear and said, “Rutherford to Wolfe. Wolfe, I’ve got a 20 on your lost pup. It seems the nurse was wrong; zy did come with the Dexes to see Doc X after all.” There was a short pause. “I believe so. I can’t imagine any other reason zy would have a lump I assume is Darius Dex strapped to zyr chest.” Another pause. “I think I’ll let you tell that to the Dexes in person. Rutherford out.

“Sorry, kid. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Th—that’s okay,” Aaron stammered.

//Doc Xander says you may return,// Atlantis said.

Aaron nearly sagged with relief. Zy had forgotten for a second that Atlantis was with zyr and would always be able to rescue zyr if someone was mean. It had gotten kind of okay just talking with Austin, but Major Rutherford was super intimidating. Plus, he’d been sent by zyr dad. Talk about embarrassing!

“Um, Atlantis says I can go in with Tony and Ronon now?”

“Sounds good, kid,” Rutherford said, stepping back so zy could dart through the curtained opening.

Just on the other side, zy realized zy had left without saying goodbye to Austin. Geez, a little scare and zyr manners totally disappeared!

Zy turned a little and smiled shyly over zyr shoulder. “Bye Austin. I hope you feel better soon.”

“See ya, darlin,’” he replied with a grin and wink that made zyr blush like crazy… _again_.

Aaron hurried toward the room where Tony was. Zy shouldn’t have listened, but the Major wasn’t exactly quiet when he started chewing out Austin.

“Well, I was here to spring you from this place because I thought you’d been punished long enough for not disclosing a head injury to your commanding officer as soon as it happened on Win’nala. Now I’m wondering if you weren’t hit harder than we both thought!”

Aaron nearly gasped! Wow, that was really serious. Head injuries, even ones that seemed like they were nothing, could be deadly! Major Rutherford was probably right to yell at Austin…even if he was scary.

“Tell me, Red Eagle, have you had _multiple_ suicidal urges today or just the one where you throw yourself into the jaws of a rabidly overprotective canine?”

“Just the one, sir,” Austin replied meekly.

The door opened just as Aaron reached it.

“Ah, there you are, Aaron. I thought we might’ve lost you to more interesting company,” Doc Xander said with a funny half-smile. “Well, come in. They’re already watching the kyta. Zy is quite active today, so I’m sure you’ll find it fascinating.”

With that, all thoughts of Austin Red Eagle were banished from zyr mind. Babies were way more exciting!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **37** ilshan (ill-SHAWN) live-in childcare provider; nanny [Sateda]


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_Keplerday, Bhaskara 13, First Year of the Returned  
(June 22, 2008)_

Rodney was annoyed that he’d had to wait so long to give Tony zyr birthday present. First, they’d had to survive the fog and doom planet, though at least they had a trade agreement with the assholes, plus Tony had managed to smuggle out two big blankets of that fabric they wanted just by wrapping it around the little kid that the servant had snuck in to see Tony. (And then Tony had decided to keep him. Rodney wasn’t going to pretend to believe that load of aknata crap about the Vedaeus giving him to zyr, even if Sheppard and Tony zyrself seemed to be willing to let those two grunts off the hook. _Those_ jerks shouldn’t plan to have hot water for _months_ …or until Tony found out and made him turn it back on, whichever came first.)

Rodney had planned to visit Tony yesterday, but then a couple of the assholes the _Daedalus_ had brought decided it would be fun to completely disregard the safety protocols in one of the labs and tried to blow them all to smithereens. They would’ve succeeded if Atlantis hadn’t noticed what they were doing and put a stop to it. Zelenka had been so furious he hadn’t been able to speak English for hours. Rodney had been the one to rip the idiots to shreds with the power of his massive brain and vocabulary.

By the time it was all said and done with the morons locked out of everything except the bare essentials—Rodney was still annoyed that Atlantis had refused to return them to the _Daedalus_ by way of beaming them into cold space—Tony was asleep. Rodney hadn’t asked Atlantis to clarify if being asleep was code for getting laid, even if it wasn’t that late. He hadn’t wanted to ruin his mood even further.

Now Rodney was finally taking the afternoon off so he could go visit Tony. Atlantis had already told him that Tony, Ronon, the kid, and Wolfe’s kid were in the living room.

“Hey, Rodney!” Tony welcomed him with a wide smile as soon as zy saw him.

It was weird, but something about being with his ayah eased the tension in Rodney’s shoulders. Atlantis said it was because they were family, and family should make each other feel relaxed and safe. He’d have to take her word on it, since that had never been the case in his life until Tony.

They were all in what Ronon called soft clothes, and Tony was lying on the sofa, which looked to have expanded since the last time Rodney had seen it. It looked a lot more bed-like that it did sofa. Zy had a wide wedge pillow thing propping zyr up, and Ronon was sprawled over zyr legs. It looked like he’d fallen asleep with his head on Tony’s baby bump, which was definitely big enough to pretend it was a pillow…though Rodney was smart enough to know he never should say that to Tony.

Aaron Wolfe was propped up beside Tony on the wedge plus another couple pillows with Darius sitting on zyr hips and leaning back on zyr legs. The toddler was taking primary-colored foam shapes out of what looked like a square Rubbermaid container and handing them to Aaron, who praised him extravagantly each time. He struggled with it enough that Rodney assumed he must have some hand-eye coordination problems.

“Come hang out with us,” Tony encouraged. “I’m glad you could get at least _some_ free time during what’s supposed to be your day off.”

Rodney headed toward them, settling into the double width recliner Tony usually monopolized. “I’ll be lucky if some idiot doesn’t do something else stupid despite being terrified of me.”

//I will keep an eye on them, Rodney,// Atlantis assured him.

At the same time, Aaron looked up and tilted zyr head, rather like a confused puppy. “Why would they be terrified of you? You’re really nice.”

Ronon snored loudly and smacked his lips before returning to soft not-quite-snores, as if objecting to that description even in his sleep. Tony chuckled and started finger-combing through his long curls, making Ronon purr the way Rodney’s cat used to. A pang went through Rodney’s heart when he remembered he’d never have Cat sit on his lap and purr ever again.

“Rodney is in charge of a lot of people, and he can’t afford to be as nice to all of them as he is to us,” Tony explained. “They work with very dangerous materials, which could do a lot of damage if handled incorrectly. They also tend to be more interested in whether they _can_ do something than if they _should_ do something.”

“Oh, well then they deserve to get yelled at if they do stuff that puts everybody in danger,” Aaron declared with an easy shrug before cooing, “Isn’t that right, Darius? If people would listen the first time, I bet your Uncle Rodney would be as nice to them as he is to us.”

Rodney huffed, but he was secretly pleased that Aaron had called him Darius’ uncle, like it was an accepted fact.

“Don’t count on it, but it’s good to know you’re smarter than most of the new people Earth sent us. If I say not to do something, there’s always a reason for it! Most of the time it’s even a good one.”

Not always, but he wasn't going to admit that to the puppy. He didn't want to explain that part of how he policed his people's behavior was by cutting off their access when they behaved like assholes to each other.

“Obviously,” Tony commented, watching fondly as Darius dropped the blue foam block back in the container and put his thumb in his mouth, his eyes half-closed. He wobbled a little, and Tony and Aaron both reached out to steady him. “Hmm. Looks like we’re done with that game for a while.”

“Probably. I think he wants to be a turtle again,” Aaron agreed, gathering up the rest of the pieces and putting them back into the container before setting it on the floor.

Zy pulled a fluffy, green blanket up from where it had been making a tent over zyr raised knees and draped it over Darius, who had eagerly flopped forward until he could tuck his face against Aaron’s sweatshirt and hide from the world.

Rodney could identify with the urge to hide from the world, albeit not the method Darius had used.

“If the couch were wider, Darius’ Uncle Rodney could cuddle with us,” Aaron said hesitantly, ducking zyr head and shooting Rodney a half-shy, half-wary look.

Tony must’ve seen something in Rodney’s expression because zy said, “It’s sweet that you’re worried about Rodney feeling left out, but I have to do cuddle sneak attacks to get him to cuddle with me. I bet Atlantis would move his chair right over next to us, though.”

Rodney assumed Atlantis thought it was a good idea as well. Before he knew it, he’d been beamed right beside the sofa edge, and the footstool had been put under his feet.

Tony chuckled, “It looks like we’re all having naptime.”

“I just came up here to give you your birthday present, not take a nap,” he objected weakly. “I should get back to my lab and get some work done on my own projects.”

“Ooo, birthday present? Show me! Move so I can get up, Wolfe pup.”

Aaron frowned at zyr. “Uh-uh. You’re on bedrest. You can’t get up unless it’s to go to the bathroom, Doc Xander’s orders.”

Rodney froze. “Why are you on bedrest?” he demanded. “And why is _now_ the first I’m hearing of it?!”

“Doc’s completely irrational, and—”

“Tony’s on bedrest because you guys crashed in a jumper, then went running through a fog-and-lightning storm for _miles_ , then got super wet and cold, then spent the night in an even colder place, and then zy carried around a baby (even if he isn’t a very heavy baby) then ate stuff that hadn’t been checked by Atlantis, and _then_ had to carry the baby all the way back through the village to the jumper so zy could get home!”

Rodney knew his eyes were popping out of his skull. “What?! What’s wrong with you?!" If Rodney hadn’t been so worried, he’d have been impressed that Aaron managed all of that in one breath. As it was, his heart was pounding in terror, and he found himself yanking Tony’s arm across Aaron and Darius and trying to check zyr pulse and look into zyr eyes without having the first clue what he was looking for. "You never said anything about that hurting you!”

“I’m fine, tattletale!”

“Sorry.” Aaron dropped zyr gaze and rubbed Darius’ back, then turned the biggest sad-puppy eyes Rodney had ever seen in his life on Tony. “I just thought you’d want your brother to know Doc said your blood pressure was up. I know I’d be hurt if I had an ayah who didn’t tell me when there was something wrong.”

Tony actually cringed. “Okay, okay. My blood pressure was up a little, and there were a few oddities with my electrolytes and blood sugar. However! He mostly he put me on bedrest today to punish me for not obeying bedrest orders _exactly_ the way he wanted me to the day we got back and yesterday.”

For Tony, that was practically a line-by-line rundown of zyr entire doctor visit. Rodney was impressed and studied Aaron speculatively.

Tony met his eyes and snorted. “I know. If I didn’t know zy was from Earth, I’d suspect some kind of alien mind control capacity. I’m considering using zyr in interrogations.”

Aaron blinked innocently and looked back and forth between them. “What are you talking about?”

“Hmm. But you really don’t feel bad or anything? No dizziness or numbness? Tingling? Pains?”

 “No, I feel perfectly fine, though my right leg is tingling like there’s a huge weight on it that put it to sleep—oh, wait; there is!” Tony laughed lightly and made a show of shifting zyr leg out from under Ronon, who grunted and snorted until Tony was still again. “Ah, much better. _Now_ I feel fine.”

Aaron giggled. “Ronon was trying to hear and feel the kyta move earlier, and he fell asleep.”

“I guess the baby videos work like Nyquil for you, but listening to the baby—or my digestive tract, one of the two—makes Ronon pass out,” Tony explained with a grin as zy slid zyr fingers into Ronon’s hair and started massaging his scalp.

“Oh! Have you seen the video from yesterday, Uncle Rodney? Uh, I mean, sorry. It’s just, I was calling you Darius’ Uncle Rodney earlier.” Aaron blushed and ducked zyr head bashfully again, or zy would have if Darius hadn’t tucked himself tight up under zyr chin.

Rodney opened his mouth, then shut it again, not sure what to say.

//If you wish zyr to give you a familial title, you must tell zyr you find zyr error acceptable,// Atlantis explained with fond amusement.

Oh. _Oh_. Aaron wanted Rodney to be zyr family. Weird, and he wasn't quite sure what to do with people who wanted him to be in their families, but not objectionable.

“That’s okay, Aaron. I can be your uncle as long as I don’t have to claim your papa as my brother. I don’t want to be related to your mother either. She’s—”

Tony fake-coughed in warning.

“—uh, how about a godfather you call an uncle?”

“Really?” Aaron beamed at him. “That would be awesome!”

“It would be?” Rodney was beginning to wonder if it was a kysra-specific gene that made people like him. First Tony, now Aaron. Maybe there were DNA tests he could have somebody run.

“Yeah, of course! With Atlantis, you, and my dad—I mean my papa—looking out for me, nobody would dare hurt me _ever_!”

Aaron sounded so triumphant that Rodney scowled at the mere thought of anybody hurting the little Wolfe pup, as Tony had called zyr earlier.

“There better not be anybody who tries to hurt you. Atlantis isn't the only one who can beam people into space! Though I do have to have her help to do it, I guess.”

Aaron grinned like zy thought Rodney was kidding.

“Of course, if Rodney is your uncle, then you get me and Ronon too,” Tony said gleefully. Zy wagged zyr index finger at Aaron. “Ah-ah-ah! No take-backs!”

“You can’t be an uncle because you’re like me and not a guy. What’s the word for kysra like that?” Aaron asked when zy finished snickering.

“Oh, huh. You’re right.”

//Tony, you would be Aaron’s _vehad_.38 Zy would be your and Rodney’s _syva_.39 //

“Vehad. That sounds like something else I heard recently. Isn’t that a Spanish word for sheep?”

“No, that’s _oveja_ , Rodney,” Tony corrected, zyr lips twitching.

“You hear Atlantis?” Aaron stared at Rodney and gasped. “How? Did you have her change you? That would be really neat if you did! We’d really be like family, I mean like biologically related, right?”

Rodney was all set to deny it, maybe even fire off a scathing retort that had Aaron believing zy was stupid for thinking such a thing, but he couldn’t do it. Looking into that innocently happy face, he just _couldn’t_. He couldn’t chance upsetting the kysra who wanted him as zyr family—either kysra, come to think of it. Considering how Rodney had made a dozen people cry earlier without feeling the least bit of guilt, he wanted Aaron Wolfe evaluated for some kind of mental abilities as soon as possible.

“Yeah, Atlantis changed me a while ago,” he admitted and was rewarded with a delighted grin that outshone even Tony’s, and zy’d reached that of pregnancy where zy looked lit up like a fully-charged ZedPM all the time.

“Even before Darius? That means you’re the first human Atlantis changed who isn’t a kysra too! She must love you a lot!”

//Yes, I do,// Atlantis agreed before Rodney could say anything one way or the other.

Aaron just kept grinning wihtout a shred of jealousy or disbelief. “That’s so great, Uncle Rodney. Tony and Ronon have told me about how smart you are and how many times you’ve saved everybody. I’m glad you’re really-really Satedan like us now, not just sort-of Satedan because you live on Sateda.”

“I’m glad too,” Tony murmured, turning zyr wrist, which Rodney had forgotten he was holding, so zy could squeeze Rodney’s hand.

Rodney flushed and tried to come up with something to say, but he was ridiculously limited for options. Maybe he could distract them.

“Birthday present!” he exclaimed. “I brought your birthday present!”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Tony let go and made grabby hands at Rodney. “Well?”

Rodney cleared his throat. “Well, it’s not the best present because that one—” he gestured at Ronon and made a face “—got you a real baby for your birthday, and I can’t top that. _Cheater_.”

Tony and Aaron snickered softly.

“What I got you is all in your kitchen and pantry. I went shopping on Earth…well, I had my asset manager go shopping for me, and then just beamed it in this—” He held up the grab-n-go. “—so I could restock everything for you. And some other stuff I thought you might like.”

Tony’s jaw dropped, and Aaron was equally impressed, if Rodney was any judge.

“Oh my gosh! As soon as Dari-turtle wakes up, we have to go look! That’s _amazing_!”

“You are right about that! I can’t believe you did all that for me, Rodney.”

“Well, it’s not just for you.” He cleared his throat again. He could feel the tops of his cheeks turning pink. “I put together a list of things I want you to make when I come over for supper, so she made sure to get all the ingredients for that. And that tiramisu thing you make. And some of those double-chocolate mint cookies. I specifically had her get two cases of those chocolate chips you approve of just for those.”

Tony grinned and turned on zyr side, careful not to wake Ronon or Darius.

“I’d love to make everything on your list,” Tony said, squeezing Rodney’s arm affectionately. “You are totally getting hugged as soon as I can get up!”

Despite the warm feeling that had settled in his chest, Rodney pretended to protest, “Now there’s no need to be ridiculous about it! I haven’t done anything to deserve to that punishment!”

“I’ll save you!” Aaron offered with a snicker. “Here, quick! Distract zyr. Just lean on the arm of your chair closest to us, and we’ll watch the baby video. I got to be there this time! It was _soooo_ cool!”

Aaron turned to Tony and whispered, “That’s okay, right? Because we’re all family now? Real family, not like my mom and stepfather?”  
  
Expression turning gentle, Tony reassured zyr, "Yeah, we're family. We're family the way it's supposed to be. You're safe, puppy."  
  
“But I don’t wanna take a nap,” Rodney whined, not wanting to think any further about Aaron's home life prior to being rescued.

“You won’t. Aaron here will narrate, and there’s no way you’ll sleep through all the ‘oh my gosh, look!’ that’ll involve,” Tony assured him dryly, earning zyrself a pout.

“Hey!” Aaron protested, then giggled. “Okay, maybe I do say that a lot. I’ll try not to so much, but for now, Atlantis, would you please start the video? Thank you!”

Rodney settled in next to his godson and nephew. Well, maybe a short break wouldn’t be so bad.

“Oh my gosh, I must’ve missed this first part when I was talking with Austin. Look at zyr little hands and fingers! _Zy’s so cute!_ ”

Rodney exchanged an amused look with Tony over Aaron’s head. Well, at least he wouldn’t fall asleep.

*~*~*~*

Ronon drew in a deep breath as he woke, some primitive part of his brain rumbling in satisfaction because it recognized the scent of his meraska and knew it was zyr skin against his cheek. Last he could remember, he’d been trying to hear and feel the kyta by pressing his ear against Tony’s belly. Somehow, he’d fallen asleep. It wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his afternoon off, but there were certainly worse ways.

He blinked and raised up on his elbow and blinked. Not able to focus properly, he rubbed the grit from the corners his eyes with the fingers of his other hand. He yawned and looked down at Tony, a contented smile curling his lips. Zy had fallen asleep at some point too, which was good. Zy hadn’t been sleeping as well lately, and Ronon had hoped the wedge thing Atlantis had made would help zyr with zyr acid reflux.

Aaron and Darius were sleeping too, a not-so-nice scent wafting up from Darius’ diaper-clad rear end. Ronon would have to do something about that. Aaron had explained diaper rash and the horrors of it to him and Tony, so he knew he couldn’t leave Darius like that for long.

He gazed beyond Aaron and wondered when the hell Rodney had shown up and how Ronon had slept through it. It actually worried him a little that he’d slept deeply enough to miss the obstreperous scientist’s appearance, not to mention somebody moving the big-ass chair over next to them.

“Finally.”

The comment came from the chair across from them.

“Wolfe?” Ronon grunted.

“Atlantis let me in,” he said, answering Ronon’s unasked question. “She said I could stay as long as I was quiet and didn’t wake any of you. I have to admit I’m not exactly comfortable with this weird sleeping arrangement you have going on here.”

Ronon eased to his knees and onto what used to be the arm of the sofa, twisting around and sliding his feet to the floor so he could stand.

“Wasn’t my idea,” he told the other man, stretching both hands toward the ceiling until his spine felt like a straight line instead of the twisted mess he’d woken up with from the awkward way he’d been curled. “I only had Tony and Darius here when I feel asleep. I’m not gonna pretend I’m surprised to see your kyta, but I have no idea when McKay showed up. I’m going to act like I never noticed him at all, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Hmm….”

Ronon moved around the side of the sofa and carefully leaned over Rodney’s legs. He gently pealed the soft blanket away from Darius’ face to reveal sleepy lavender eyes.

“Hey there, _beyesah_ ,”40 he murmured and gently cupped the back of Darius’ head before resting his hand on his back. “Can Papa take you to clean up?”

Darius curled his free hand in Aaron’s too-big sweatshirt.

“Yeah, I know you like your ilshan. I’ll bring you right back to zyr after we get you a new diaper, okay?”

Ronon waited until Darius closed his eyes and turned his face into Aaron, then looked up at Ronon again and released Aaron’s shirt only to grab the edge of the blanket and bring it to his face as he returned to sucking his thumb.

“Okay, we’ll take your blanky too,” he reassured him.

Ronon lifted Darius and brought him to his shoulder, extra gentle with the boy who felt tiny in his hands. Back on Win’nala, Ronon had been relieved to discover that he hadn’t totally forgotten the way to lift, hold, and carry little ones. He knew eventually it would feel natural instead of as if his hands were too big and rough to touch such a breakable mini-human.

Darius caught sight of Logan and made a tiny, frightened sound before mashing his face into Ronon’s chest and clutching at his shirt.

“It’s alright,” Ronon soothed, bringing the green blanket up over the top of Darius’ head and covering him completely so he could ‘be a turtle,’ as Aaron always called it. “Papa’s got you, beyesah. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.” He tilted his head toward the hall. “C’mon, Wolfe. I’ve never done this without one of them hovering over me. You can tell them I did it right when they ask…and they will.”

Wolfe rolled his eyes and huffed, but he got up and, after running a hand over his own kyta’s hair, followed Ronon to the nursery.

“You got the original door back,” Wolfe commented.

“Yeah. Aaron said zy’d feel weird going through our room every time zy needed to get something from the nursery, so now there’s a door from the hall and one from our room,” Ronon explained absently, looking around for the bags and bags of diapers he knew should be in the room. “Atlantis, any idea what Tony did with all the diapers that were in here?”

//I took them,// she replied. //I analyzed them, and many contained chemicals from production or for what I assume must be fragrance to mask scent. Either way, it is not good for your little ones. I left the least problematic and have begun production of better diapers using materials I know will be safe.//

Ronon sighed and decided he was going to let Tony deal with her. A brand new package had appeared on the changing table, and he recognized the creams he was supposed to use, so he was set for the time being. “Okay, thanks.”

“What’d she say?” Wolfe asked from the doorway.

“She took them and is making something better, but we can use these for now.”

Wolfe blinked and frowned a little. “Oh. Okay. Something to do with the environmental effects? I know that was a hot topic when Aaron was little enough that I was buying diapers.”

Ronon laid Darius on the changing table and started unzipping and unfastening everything to get to the stinky baby butt beneath.

“I dunno. Atlantis?”

//No, that is not a concern. The Earther diapers contain substances I can break down and use to make drones.//

Ronon snorted, which he immediately regretted and wished he had waited until he was done changing Darius. “She says she’s using the Earther diapers to make drones.”

Wolfe snorted and then got the same look Ronon was assuming he’d just gotten from doing the same thing. “It would serve the Wraith right to have baby poop explode all over them. Feed him a lot of peas and carrots first. Maybe some pureed Brussels sprouts.”

“Ha! Those beans Darius’ Dada puts in that spicy red soup—chili, I think, right Darius?” Ronon asked. He continued in a soft voice, “Stinky diaper off, cleaned up baby, and clean diaper on. That’s a lot better with the icky smell gone, huh?”

“Oh, kidney beans,” Wolfe supplied. “Yeah, those would be horrific. Atlantis would hardly need to do anything to turn those diapers in to weapons of mass destruction.”

Ronon could only imagine. They were having a hard time getting Darius to eat much of anything. He didn’t want to think about what it would be like when Darius was eating as much as a normal little one should.

“Hand me that cream stuff? No, the one with the green and white label.”

From the way Darius was shivering and sucking on his thumb like he was afraid it was going to escape, Ronon could tell that he was reaching his limit of time away from the kysra. That in mind, Ronon quickly finished and got Darius back into the bottom half of his clothes and zipped up. Picking him up, he wrapped the blanket around him and rubbed his back. He motioned Wolfe ahead of them, and they wandered back toward the living room.

“Hey, you’re all awake,” Wolfe said, relaxing enough to smile at his kyta.

“Yeah,” Aaron said mid-yawn. “We didn’t mean to go to sleep, but Ronon and Darius were already snoring, and then we watched the baby video….”

Ronon rolled his eyes at his meraska. “As if you didn’t know that would knock out Rodney.” He turned to the side so Darius could see both his favorite people.

“I plead the fifth,” Tony muttered, ending with a huge yawn that made zyr eyes water.

As he flopped down in another recliner, Wolfe returned drolly, “I don’t think this is a situation protected by the 5th Amendment.”

Rodney had straightened in his chair so he wasn’t leaning over the arm into Aaron’s space, but he was almost asleep again. The two kysra were leaning against each other, looking drowsy until Ronon asked Darius softly, “Do you wanna go to Dada or Aaron?”

Darius looked at Tony and then looked up at Ronon.

Deciding he would push just a little, Ronon said, “You can have either one. You just gotta tell me if you want Dada or Aaron.”

Darius started at him warily from beneath his long, white lashes and finally took his thumb out of his mouth. When he spoke, his voice was so quiet that Ronon wouldn’t have heard it if he hadn’t been listening for it.

“Dada.”

All drowsiness vanishing, Tony asked excitedly, “Aww, did my beautiful baby boy say my name?” Zy reached out and wiggled zyr fingers to demand zy be given zyr son, so Ronon carefully transferred Darius to zyr and climbed back into his spot. He stretched out his legs and slid them beneath both Tony’s and Aaron’s knees.

Settling Darius on zyr thigh and making sure he was wrapped warmly, Tony said, “I’m so proud of you, Darius! Can you do it again? Can you tell me I’m your Dada? Can you say Darius’ Dada?”

In Tony’s arms with everyone grinning at him—even Ronon found himself with a stupid smile—Darius must have felt braver because his voice was tiny bit stronger.

“Dada.” He put both palms on Tony’s chest and gazed up at zyr in adoration. “Day-wees’ Dada.”

“That’s right, I’m Darius’ Dada!” Tony beamed so brightly Ronon thought he might get sunburn from it, and zy pressed kisses all over Darius’ face. “My Darius, my sweet baby boy. I’m so proud of you!”

“Good job, Darius!” Aaron held up both hands and waggled zyr fingers in the air, quietly cheering, “Yay!”

Darius smiled a little at first, but he quickly became overwhelmed and hid his face against Tony. He even tried to pull the blanket over his head.

Aaron cooed, and Tony and Ronon exchanged a quietly relieved look. Their little foundling would be alright; it would just take time.

Wolfe cleared his throat. “Not to put a damper on this touching moment, but can we talk about how I’m not okay with coming up here and finding my kyta sleeping with three adults and a baby?”  
  
That made Tony have a little coughing fit, but Ronon wasn’t sure why.  
  
Aaron gasped, “Papa!” and clapped both hands over zyr bright red face.  
  
“They tricked me!” Rodney protested indignantly from his chair, making a dramatic gesture toward the rest of them. “I agreed to watch the kyta video, but they were going to keep me awake! That was the agreement!”  
  
“Ronon was sleeping on me; Darius was sleeping on Aaron. It’s contagious, I guess.” Tony pressed a kiss to Darius’ temple. “We're all family anyway, and you know perfectly well that all the adults in this room are going to be just as vigilant about Aaron's safety and happiness as we are Darius's." Zy glanced at Aaron's pout and amended, "...because even if Aaron is practically an adult, zy's still your kyta. Zy'll still be your kyta no matter how old zy is."  
  
Wolfe’s eyebrows did a wild wiggle-dance that Ronon thought was hilarious before he demanded, “What? Since when are we—” he made a circle with his index finger indicating all of them “—all family?”

Ronon wouldn’t mind knowing that himself, not that he objected, so he kept quiet. Tony had that look in zyr eye that zy got when zy was maneuvering people exactly where zy wanted them. Zy didn’t do it very often, but it was best to just let zyr do what zy wanted when zy had a plan.

“Well, Rodney is Darius’ uncle, and he agreed to be Aaron’s godfather who goes by Uncle Rodney. Of course, if Rodney gets to be family, then Ronon and I get to come along for the fun, which makes Aaron a cousin to Darius and the baby. See? Family,” Tony explained as if it was the only logical explanation, and zy didn’t quite understand how Wolfe didn’t know it already.

Ronon thought about it, then shrugged. He’d been an uncle to Arissa’s girls. He’d probably have been an uncle many times over by now if his family were still alive. He wouldn’t mind being Aaron’s uncle. He was already related to Rodney through Tony, so that situation couldn’t get any worse.

Wolfe was frowning deeply, not convinced.

“Oh, _come on_!” Rodney fumed. “You know we’d never hurt Aaron. If you didn’t figure that on out Earth, then intelligence must have skipped a generation because _Aaron_ knows it already. Even if Atlantis didn’t watch over all the kysra like a mother hen with a penchant for stalking, I’m certain she’d know the second anyone upset any of them, and she’d beam the offenders into space without the benefit of Jackson’s hamster ball to keep them alive.”

“I’m sorry, Papa,” Aaron turned huge, sad eyes on zyr pater. “I asked them to be my family. They don’t have to be. I mean, I didn’t know I was doing something bad. I’ll stop; I promise.”

Wolfe flinched like he’d just had a knife shoved into his heart; he backed down instantly. “No, that’s not it at all, tiger. I just had to make sure you were safe and you _felt_ safe. It’s okay if you want the Dexes and McKay to be family. That’s fine, really.”

Rodney snorted and muttered, “Ha! Nobody can say no to that face.”

Ronon had to agree. Aaron did have an impressive sad meura face. Jixa would’ve been jealous, and that was saying a lot. He made a plan right then and there to give in to whatever Aaron wanted. He’d end up doing it in the end, and it would save on the guilt he’d feel for not giving in right away and making Aaron be sad longer than zy absolutely had to be.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Wolfe moved to kneel on the sofa-bed so he could hug Aaron and ruffle zyr hair. “Just maybe let’s talk before we get more family next time, okay? I’m terrible at remembering birthdays and anniversaries. Hell, I don’t know if we even have the right Hallmark cards in the city.”

“Okay,” Aaron agreed, grinning happily as zy allowed zyr papa to pull zyr to zyr feet.

Tony caught Ronon’s eye. Zy murmured quietly, “Zy has no idea zy does it.”

Ronon nodded. “Yeah, got that. Makes it worse, doesn’t it?”

“Yep. Just plan to give zyr whatever zy wants.”

“Way ahead of you, m’kysra,” Ronon replied, even as Aaron was asking Wolfe and Rodney if they thought it would be okay to bring supper up so they could all eat together, since Tony was on bedrest.

A little louder, he offered, “Hey, we could invite Sheppard, Teyla, and Lorne. It could be a party.”

“Ooo, can we, Papa?”

“Sure, tiger,” Wolfe agreed. He hugged zyr again, all the while glaring at Ronon over zyr head.

Ronon bared his teeth in a shark's smile. Hey, if Aaron was always going to get zyr way, there was nothing that said Ronon couldn’t use that to get his way too.

*~*~*~*

_Tesladay, Bhaskara 16, First Year of the Returned  
(June 25, 2008)_

“It always makes me nervous when people come to see me in my office,” John only half-joked, eyeing the couple across from him.

“Rest assured we have not brought you any bad news, John,” Teyla declared with a particularly serene smile that put John’s instincts on high alert.

“Okay,” he said, willing to play along. “So Lorne is here to tell me why he’s been walking into doors he forgets to think open while looking either elated or terrified or sometimes smiling while looking terrified?”

Lorne cleared his throat and shifted in his chair but didn’t let go of Teyla’s hand. For her part, Teyla maintained her serene smile, which worried John a lot more.

“I was unaware that had occurred, but I believe I can explain it.” Her dark eyes gleamed with amusement. “You recall our harvest mission to New Athos.”

“Yeah, of course,” he answered. “If this is about the search for your people, it hasn’t been very long, Teyla. You know I have teams three and four out talking to people, but nobody seems to know anything. The only good news is that nobody’s heard anything from the Bola Kai either.”

The thought of the cannibalistic tribe turned John’s stomach. He wouldn’t exactly be upset if he found out they’d all fallen through a space gate somewhere. People who literally ate other human beings were no better than the Wraith. No. They were worse. They weren’t even a different species that thought themselves superior to humans. They were just vile human monsters.

When John had asked Atlantis what had happened to the Bola Kai leader they’d captured, she’d told him that the man hadn’t known anything about when or how the remaining Athosians had disappeared, and she had dealt with him. John and Carter—and Woolsey, much to John’s surprise—had all accepted that. Apparently, even paper-pusher, IOA representatives didn’t mind if Atlantis eliminated a cannibal.

“I do not doubt the efforts being made to locate the rest of my people. I was referring more to Doc Xander keeping me in the infirmary overnight.”

“Oh. I assumed you had a concussion.”

“I am aware. I apologize for misleading you, but I didn’t wish to correct your assumption until I could come to terms with the news as well as discuss it with Evan.”

“News?”

“Yes.” Teyla’s smile turned cautiously pleased. “I am with child.”

Lorne, who had been silent, got that same terrified grin he’d had so often recently and exclaimed, “I’m going to be a papa!”

John blinked rapidly, as if that would get rid of his shock and kick his brain into gear.

“Wow. I—wow. Uh, congratulations?” he winced at his questioning tone when he was pretty sure that sort of thing should be decisive if not enthusiastic.

Teyla and Lorne just smiled each other and then at him.

“It was unexpected, but it is not an unwelcome development,” Teyla stated.

“I’m especially glad Atlantis approved my long-term residency. I talked to her about whether or not she thought there’d be a way for me to stay here even if the military called me back to Earth before I proposed to Teyla, so I was confident she would approve me, but now I’m _really_ glad she did.”

From the normally reserved Lorne, that was practically a McKay volume and pace babble.

“I’m happy for you, both of you,” John finally managed to say. “Do you know how far along you are?”

“Not far—perhaps a little over seven weeks. Doc Xander plans to count my pregnancy according to the kysra numbers, since the ALI allows a much more accurate age of the baby.”

John’s eyes drifted to the Pegasus calendar on his laptop and counted back.

“But we didn’t even have any alcohol at Ronon’s birthday party!”

Lorne laughed, but Teyla just shot him an exasperated look.

John apologized, then said, “We will need to discuss how long you want to be active going out with the team.”

Caught off guard, Teyla stiffened her spine and pointed out, “I assure you, Athosian women are very active until late in their pregnancies.”

John immediately agreed, since the last thing he wanted to do was make Teyla feel like he didn’t think she could do her job.

“I’m sure they are, but you’re going to be going through physical changes that throw off everything from your sense of smell to your balance, going by what Tony Dex is dealing with. You were there that day zy got that flash of vertigo at the top of the steps and would’ve taken a header if it hadn’t been for Atlantis beaming zyr to safety at the last second. Maybe zy isn’t quite the same level of fit as you, because let’s face it, not many people are, but zy’s no out-of-shape couch potato either. Do you really want to be dealing with all that _and_ fighting off angry villagers, not to mention the Wraith?”

“That is true, but the Wraith tend to be less likely to cull pregnant women. If they do, they nearly always return them to a nearby planet, and they are able to return to their home planet fairly easily.”

“Wait, they do? Since when?”

“I do not believe it has ever come up before, or I would have told you. Tony’s description of how the Wraith view humans as troublesome food animals is correct,” Teyla explained. “They also know their food animals must reproduce; therefore, they return pregnant and nursing mothers to a planet more often than not. It is why the vast majority of women continue to nurse their children long past the time the books Doc Xander provided say is most common for bearers living in Earth’s first-world nations.”

“So, what are we talking, here? A year? More?”

“Most frequently, the child self-weans, so it might be as little as a year or as much as five.”

John did his best not to make a face, but it made sense in a weird sort of way that he planned not to think about too deeply. What concerned him most was the possible time Teyla was going to be out of the field. They were up to almost six years if she chose to nurse her kid for that long.

“Well, okay, let’s table that discussion. Right now my question is do you want to be in the field and running from or fighting the Wraith if you don’t have to be? If you do want to keep going on missions, have you considered how long you want to continue before you want to go on maternity leave? When you take maternity leave, have you thought about how long you want that to last before you come back to the team?”

Another possibility occurred to John, so he added, “I’m not sure of a good way to say this, so I’ll just say it: with the Pegasus’ view of them, you need to consider if any of those answers will change if your baby is a kysra.”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t think about that either,” Lorne said. Turning to Teyla, he continued, “I have an aunt on my father’s side who I’m pretty sure is a kysra. I know one or more of that family’s kids are kysra—they’re on my family list to come to Atlantis as soon as we can, actually—so we have the gene in my family if not my immediate family. It’s possible the baby will be kysra.”

Teyla’s eyes widened, and her hands went to her abdomen. “I—I had not considered the possibility.”

“Understandable,” John said. She looked so shell-shocked that he didn’t know if she’d heard him or not. “It is great news, and I really appreciate you telling me this early. I’ll keep it to myself until you say otherwise.”

“Thank you, we appreciate it.” Lorne gave him a lopsided grin. “I think we have more to talk about before we can give you any real answers to your questions.”

“Well, AR-1 isn’t scheduled to go out until after the belated birthday party the Athosians are throwing for Tony, so you’ve got a little breathing room to get your heads around it and do that talking.”

“Thank you, sir.” Evan huffed a laugh. “I’ll try not to run into any more doors or furniture when I come in tomorrow.”

 John snorted. “Hey, it’s your shins and nose. Seriously, though, congratulations you two.”

“Thank you,” Teyla managed faintly, with Evan echoing her more strongly. Of course, the idea of a kysra baby wasn’t a big deal to him, whereas Teyla had just had her reality rearranged.

After they left, John flopped back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. Wasn’t there some Asian proverb or curse about life being interesting? If so, they must’ve been thinking about life on Atlantis.

*~*~*~*

_Chernday, Bhaskara 20, First Year of the Returned  
(June 29, 2008)_

“Ready for another day of fun and games?”

John watched with amusement as Carter procrastinated going to the conference room by straightening her desk for the third time.

“If negotiations are suddenly your idea of fun, I’m sending Dr. Picard back to Earth. There’s obviously something horribly wrong with you, and he didn’t catch it,” she retorted.

“It’s fun sometimes,” he returned dryly. “I’m pretty sure I’m close to a telepathic breakthrough with Starsong. I think she’s really starting to understand me. She might even eat Woolsey when I ask her to one of these times.”

Carter shook her head, but she was smiling. John took that to mean that she hoped it worked. Unless….

“Hey, where is Starsong? Isn’t she coming today?”

“Oh, she is.” Carter went to the open doorway to Starsong’s sunning area. “Hey, you! Get in here! Yes, you! It’s time to go.”

There was a horrible moaning sound followed by the _thwap_ of a huge object—or tanricu—flopping onto the sand.

“Don’t even try that with me, you overgrown lizard! You knew the consequences for eating not just one but _two_ of those damned birds last night! Get in here, now!”

Much to John’s befuddlement, Carter backed up and put her hands on her hips, allowing the saddest excuse for a tanricu John had ever seen—not that he’d seen all that many—sulk through the doorway and into the office.

Carter made a satisfied harrumph, then smiled sheepishly when she caught the way John was staring between human and tanricu.

“I told her if she kept eating those birds, then she’d have to keep attending all the negotiation meetings. She needs to understand there are consequences for her actions.”

“Okaaay….”

“You think I’m crazy.”

The thought had crossed his mind. John compromised by saying, “I didn’t think she understood human words.”

“Oh, she does. We’ve done several experiments, and she’s understood perfectly fine every time she’s wanted to. I bet you could whisper ‘fresh osturk’ on the other side of the city, and she’d come running every time!” Carter explained. “It’s just those damn fisher birds. I swear, they have to be filled with tanricu-nip or something.”

It wasn’t the craziest thing John had ever heard. Probably. Maybe.

Starsong’s head was drooping nearly to the floor, but she lifted it hopefully when John looked at her.

“Do her scales seem a little, I dunno, dull or something? Maybe off-color? Are you sure she isn’t sick?”

Starsong’s eyes widened. Then she let them close most of the way and seemed to wilt further. She let out what sounded like the worst smoker’s cough ever, and her forelimbs trembled as if she was about to collapse.

“Haha, very funny. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: you two aren’t as cute as you think you are,” Carter said, glaring at John and Starsong. She gathered up her computer, stylus, and stress-Einstein and started toward the door when they both got an alert over their comms.

 John touched the device. “Noted, thanks.”

“Is it too much to hope the SGC’s latest transmission isn’t anything exciting?”

“Probably,” he responded. “I’m just going to hope we can get through today without Woolsey sticking his foot in his mouth and swallowing his kneecap.”

“How did he manage to be appointed as the IOA’s representative to Atlantis?” Carter asked rhetorically. “Oh, wait. It had nothing to do with him. It was all about Jae.”

“At least it’s not that French guy,” John commented. “He—”

There was a thud and a crash from behind them. John spun around, but Carter stood immobile except for closing her eyes, resignation written all over her face.

“If I turn around and there is a tanricu trying to hide under my desk, _where she has proven before that_ _she does not fit_ , that tanricu will be attending _three_ days of negotiations instead of two,” she warned.

Starsong gave a panicked _urrrk!_ and tried to wiggle out from under the Colonel’s desk. Unfortunately, her back foot landed on one of the wheels at the base of Carter’s chair. The loss of her footing startled her, and she raised her head, catching her horns on the underside of the desk. She squawked and flailed, lifting the desk with her head and neck and flipping it completely over her back. It impacted the ceiling and the wall, putting an impressive dent in both and snapping the desk itself. The contents fell to the floor in a jumble of artifacts, paper files, office supplies, computer paraphernalia, and Hershey’s chocolate kisses.

John raised his hand to rub his mouth, clearing his throat several times. The sight of the gold circle thing that had previously held one of Carter’s artifacts now perched like jewelry on Starsong’s horn strained his ability to withhold his laughter. Carter’s frustrated and resigned, “Not what I meant by ‘give me patience,’” nearly killed him, but he just barely managed to contain his mirth.

“Um, would you like me to get Madame Curie for you?”

“Yes, thank you. That would be nice.”

John braved the detritus and recovered Curie and Newton. He thought it might be better if Carter had both the replacement stress dolls. Einstein’s hair had been looking a little… _worn_ lately. Some of his hair spikes had even lost their paint.

“You might want to be a very, very sad tanricu for the rest of the day,” John whispered to Starsong even as he removed paperclips, jump drives, and rubber bands from her head and wings.

Starsong made a pathetic little _chirrup_ John hadn’t even known tanricu throats could produce.

“Yeah, just like that.” John no longer had any doubt about Starsong’s ability to understand humans. That, or Atlantis was able to translate for the tanricu like she could for human languages.

The entire time, Carter remained stock still.

“Here you go,” John said, handing over the two stress dolls.

“Thank you, John. It does seem like it’ll be the double-fisted stress ball sort of day, doesn’t it?”

“You’ll let me borrow Newton an hour or two into this nightmare?”

Carter huffed a laugh. “Of course.” Still without turning, she snapped out, “Let’s go, bird-breath!”

*~*~*~*

Daniel was the first to greet them. He looked up from his computer with a smile.

“Morning, Sam, Starsong, Sheppard.”

John found it amusing that Starsong was always listed second. If there was anything that proved Dr. Daniel Jackson saw beyond a being’s physical form, the fact that he rated Starsong equal to a human—and better than John—might have been it. Personally, John held to the belief that Daniel just liked Starsong better than he did him. That wasn’t exactly a surprise, since the tanricu had taken to Jackson and generally liked to rub her face on him and rumble every morning.

“Good morning, Daniel, Richard, Jae,” Sam greeted, her mask firmly on.

Starsong skulked in and curled behind Carter’s chair, much to Jackson’s dismay.

“Greetings, everyone,” Woolsey said, his eyes widening at Starsong’s pathetic appearance. “Oh, my. Is she alright?”

“She’s a little under the des— _weather_. Under the weather this morning. I’m sure she’ll snap out of any time now,” John said, wincing at his almost-mistake.

Jackson actually got out of his chair to investigate, humans forgotten in favor of a more interesting being.

“Hey, beautiful, did you eat something bad?”

John was very impressed that Carter stoically endured all the worry over Starsong, who obligingly moaned and groaned for both Jackson and Jae, who hadn’t been able to resist the tanricu either and had part of her head in her lap and was cooing at her in Korean.

“Sam, are her scales off-color? They don’t look blue or yellow anymore, but kind of a murky green. Even her armor plating looks a little green around the edges. Is that normal?” Jackson asked, his brow furrowed.

“That’s what I said!” John exclaimed. “Well, not the specific colors, but I said they looked off.”

Her earlier frustration with the tanricu temporarily forgotten, Sam knelt by Starsong’s side and ran her hands over her scales and armor plates.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see this! Oh, Starsong, I’m so sorry I yelled at you! Why didn’t you tell me you were sick!”

Starsong let out a weak little warble on cue.

John exchanged a look with Woolsey. They obviously both thought the others were getting one of Atlantis’ harvesters full of malarkey. Being on the same wavelength as Woolsey was disturbing, but at least it was just over Starsong’s excellent faking abilities and not anything to do with negotiations.

John cleared his throat. “So if she’s not faking, then she gets out of being a good tanricu for the next two days, but if she’s faking, that’s another, what, week at least of—ah—being good all day?”

Starsong fixed one golden eye on him and let a huff of steam escape her nostrils.

“I don’t think she is, though. This can’t be normal,” Carter insisted, fussing at Starsong’s wings and examining the tough scales over her forelimb joint.

“Of course it is, Colonel Carter,” Atlantis announced from the doorway. “She is merely in transition.”

Jackson’s head snapped up. “I’m sorry, transition?”

“Yes, Dr. Jackson. She is one of the largest and smartest tanricu. Were she not, she wouldn’t have lived to be the age she is. Now she has come into her own territory and bonded with a female human who also happens to be the human leader of that same territory. She is transitioning to become Mair of her own whirlwind.”

Atlantis strode forward and knelt at the base of Starsong’s neck where it joined her back. “Do be still, little sister.”

She produced what looked like a painter’s palette blade and used the base of it to tap around the outer edges of one of Starsong’s armor plates.

“Ah, there it is.”

Before anyone could protest, she flipped it to the metal side and slid the edge under the armor plate. With a flick of her wrist, the plate popped off, which she neatly caught in her other hand and presented to Carter. When Carter had taken it, a stiff brush that looked a lot like the one John had used to clean his bathtub on Earth appeared, and Atlantis briskly scrubbed at the spot where the plate had been removed.

“There. You see?”

Even John and Woolsey couldn’t resist the urge to get a closer look after all that.

“Holy Hannah,” Carter breathed, running her fingers over the smooth, blue-green duochrome plate. It reminded John of a can of Sprite, except not two different colors, just one that reflected the two colors in different lighting. “Do I need to do that with _all_ of her plates?”

“All plates and scales that she cannot reach with her own horns and claws, which is why I began where I did,” Atlantis agreed. “Though if you and Starsong wish, I could send nanites beneath all the old coverings to work them free and then to polish what is beneath. It would be intensely itchy and uncomfortable for two to three minutes, but then it would be over. Otherwise, it could take many hours for you to help her shed manually.”

“It’s up to you, Starsong. I don’t know why you didn’t just tell me you really were feeling crappy, silly thing,” Carter told her, fussing even as she ran her hands lovingly over her facial ridges.

Starsong rolled onto her belly and twisted her serpentine neck around so she could tap Atlantis’ shoulder with her snout.

“Very well. You all will wish to stand back. I cannot predict her exact reaction to the peculiar sensation this will produce.”

That was all it took to get the humans to the other side of the room, even Carter, reluctant though she was to leave Starsong’s side. Only Atlantis remained with the Tanricu.

Beginning at the very hard, raptorial beak-like tip of her snout, Atlantis ran her hands all along Starsong’s back down her spine, then over the main bones of her wings, and finally her stomach and legs after she’d had Starsong roll up to her haunches and stretch out.

“They will cover you fully within seconds. I believe it will be better if you lie down in the center of the room so you can fully spread your wings and extend your limbs.”

Handily, everything including the horseshoe table, chairs, and all their computers, disappeared.

“No, stay back, sweetie.”

“I will, but I wish to see, Richard.”

John’s brain nearly broke when he realized the exchange had taken place between Woolsey and Jae. Luckily, he was quickly distracted. Starsong was all sprawled out, and Atlantis was asking her permission to begin.

John knew they were all worried Starsong would flip out or become violent. Instead, it was like somebody had found that spot on the middle of John’s back, right between his shoulder blades. Starsong’s eyes rolled back, and she started to tremble all over, her limbs and wings twitching intermittently. He was pretty sure her tongue flopped out at one point, but then she turned her head. As she shivered, scales and plates fell from her body and landed on the carpeted floor. Even a hard shell came off her horns and the tip of her snout, leaving behind the same blue-green as the armor plate Atlantis had uncovered before.

Just as Atlantis had said, it was all over in less than three minutes.

“There you are, little sister,” Atlantis said, moving forward to sweep the remaining scales and plating from Starsong’s body.

Carter was there half a second later to help.

“Do you feel better, Starsong?” John asked, picking up one of her old plates.

She gave a rolling growl and flapped her wings happily.

Atlantis smiled at her. “Perhaps I will no longer need to drive so many of the sharks with that hard cartilage to the surface for you.”

 _UrrRRk!_ Starsong whipped her head around and stared, causing Atlantis laugh.

“Very well. You will continue to notify me when you wish to hunt, then.” Turning to Carter, Atlantis handed her a tiny plate, probably one of the ones from on Starsong’s face. “All the armor plating is exceptionally valuable on every planet in Pegasus; however, the first a tanricu sheds after bonding is the most precious of all. If you wish to cement your alliance with the Verubriganians beyond what it is even now, then you will offer a plate to the high priestess as a token and tell her specifically that it is the first plate shed. In addition, many of the priestesses wear one of the very small plates like this on a leather thong around their necks.”

Carter nodded, rubbing her thumbs over the small plate. “Yes, I remember. All three of the ones who came here did that, and I saw others on Verubriga who had them too.”

“If it is at all feasible, you should do the same. It is a sign of your leadership and your bond that no one in Pegasus will dismiss. As for the scales, if you will permit, I will have it made into leather armor for beneath your clothing, though you could wear it as your upper garment as High Priestess Faerl does. In fact, you should do so at Tony’s belated birthday celebration next week.”

“Then yes, please. I would be honored if you were willing to do that for me.”

John thought Carter looked a little overwhelmed with all the information. He couldn’t blame her.

“Well, I know we just got here, but I could do with a break,” John announced. “Why don’t we clean up and help Colonel Carter gather up all Starsong’s shed, uh, stuff? Then maybe we could see if she’d be willing to show off her new colors with a flight in the sunshine.”

Everyone, even Starsong, expressed approval for the idea. Amused, John wondered what it said about him that the only idea he’d had that _everyone_ was in favor of meant being able to get away from him if they wanted to.

* * *

* * *

 

Starsong's color as Mair  
Polish is Colors by Llarowe's _Emerald Illusion_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **38** vehad: (VEY-had) one's parent's kysra sibling; uncle/aunt/vehad [Sateda]  
>  **39** syva: (SIH-vah) one's sibling's kysra child; nephew/niece/syva [Sateda]  
>  **40** beyesah (bee-YAY-sah) lit. tiny flower with a mint green stem and leaves, which produces hundreds of tiny blossoms with white centers and lavender petals; term of endearment for a very small child, used by the child’s close relatives; an ilshan would also use it once they have developed a close relationship to both child and parents [Sateda]


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

_Gaussday, Bhaskara 22, First Year of the Returned  
(July 1, 2008)_

“Papa?”

Logan startled, his head jerking up in surprise at the soft voice at his office door. He’d been so involved with his paperwork that he hadn’t even heard it open. He immediately dropped the deformed paperclip he’d been stabbing into his mouse pad between forms and was on his feet and heading toward the door. His heart sank when Aaron flinched at the sudden movement. He reminded himself to go easy with his kyta.

“Hey, tiger,” Logan said, careful to keep his voice and expression calm. He reached out as he moved toward zyr. “C’mon in. Atlantis made a sofa for me a few days ago, but I haven’t had a chance to try it out. Let’s see if it’s any good.”

Aaron shook zyr head, which confused him for a second, but then zy pushed zyr hair out of zyr face with zyr hand when shaking zyr head didn’t work.

Ah, that made more sense.

Logan could hardly tell his kyta had eyes under the disaster on zyr head. He’d been tempted to say something more than once, but he had enough sense to know that would be a terrible idea. He’d like to think he was an intelligent man, certainly more intelligent than to insult a kyta with horribly fragile self-esteem. Aaron had to learn first that there should be a _constructive_ part in constructive criticism before Logan expressed his opinion about things that didn’t really matter in the long run. Aaron took everything to heart so much that he was terrified of hurting zyr with some thoughtless comment as it was.

Despite feeling a little silly standing there holding his hand out toward the teenager, Logan waited patiently for zyr to respond.

Aaron tilted zyr head and stepped toward him to put zyr smaller, softer hand in his.

“Are you busy, Papa?”

Logan had to admit he thought it was sweet that Aaron had picked up the appellation from being around the Dexes so much. Darius had finally started speaking again as he began to recover from the trauma of—well, his entire life. Like any baby, his only words were Dada and Papa to start with. Aaron had said he said zyr name too, but Logan hadn’t heard it yet. Darius mostly clung to the two kysra and stayed quiet and still.

Dexes and their drama aside, Logan liked being called Papa. It seemed more affectionate than the typical _dad_ because it was a word Aaron had chosen to call him, not one zy had learned as zy’d grown up.

“Never too busy for you, Aaron.”

Aaron looked directly at Logan for the first time since zy’d arrived at his office and gave him a shy smile.

Logan guided Aaron to the sofa, hiding his dismay. He’d thought he and Aaron were past the stage where he terrified zyr. Of course, to his knowledge, it was the first time Aaron had left Dex Tower on zyr own. He had no doubt that Atlantis was paying vigilant attention, but she wasn’t physically present. It really was a big step for his kyta.

“Want something to drink?” he asked with a nod toward the mini-fridge in the corner. “I have water, Coke, and some kind of Athosian infusion that tastes like white peach tea. Tony likes that one a lot.”

Logan couldn’t help but be disappointed that Aaron had chosen to sit in the far corner of the sofa. He had to remind himself that it was amazing progress for Aaron to have sought him out at all. Logan was still coming to terms with his jealousy over how easily and quickly Aaron and Tony had bonded. It made sense, of course. Tony was a kysra and therefore safe in Aaron’s mind. That didn’t mean it hurt any less when Aaron shied away from him or preferred to spend zyr evenings in zyr room rather than with him.

Aaron shook zyr head—a negative this time instead of just an attempt to get zyr hair out of zyr eyes—and pulled zyr legs up so zy could wrap zyr arms around zyr shins and rest zyr chin on zyr knees.

Logan sat at the other end of the sofa but purposely stretched out at an angle and put his feet up on the low table in front of them. He was careful not to crowd Aaron while still being open and relaxed.

“Have you thought about starting some classes again? You won’t exactly need a diploma here, but learning is important.”

“I know.”

When Aaron looked up, it seemed like Logan’s grandmother’s dark eyes watched him from beneath Aaron’s thick, dark lashes.

Logan and the Bitch both had blue-grey eyes, so it had been a mystery how Aaron had been born with navy eyes that gradually turned as dark as molasses as zy grew. He’d even wondered a time or two if the Bitch had cheated on him, since Aaron didn’t resemble either of them much. Not even Logan’s heavy eyebrows had made their way into Aaron’s genetics, which was suspicious because nearly everyone on his mother’s side of his family—including his mother—had been cursed with thick, dark eyebrows. The only reason Logan had cared about genetics (beyond not wanting to catch some STD from an unfaithful wife) was the fact that if Aaron wasn’t his biologically, zyr mother might take zyr away from him someday.

Then a few years back, Logan had had to clear out his mother’s huge, old house when she’d passed on, and he’d happened to find photos of the grandmother he’d never met. Alice Cole couldn’t have been more than fifteen in most of them. Even in the aged photos, Logan had immediately recognized Aaron in her high cheekbones, cupid’s-bow lips, and dark, dark eyes. Aaron even had her smile. After that, Logan hadn’t needed Atlantis’ genetic analysis to know that Aaron’s kysra genes had come from his side of the family. In all likelihood, Aaron’s great-grandmother had been a kysra too. 

“If there’s something else you’d like to study, I know I can find someone in the city who’d help you out. Anything you want, I’ll make it happen, tiger.”

Or Atlantis could. She could be damned persuasive when she wanted to be, and she wanted all her kysra to be happy. Logan was willing to bet she’d have her most persuasive face on when she talked to whomever they needed to teach Aaron.

“Can—can I think about it?” Aaron asked, biting zyr lower lip nervously.

“Yeah, of course. I don’t mean to pressure you; I just want you to know you have choices here. You can even choose not to make a choice, if that makes any sense. I only care that you’re safe, happy, and you know I love you.”

“Okay,” Aaron practically whispered, back to chewing on the unbuttoned sleeve of another of Logan’s olive drab uniform shirts.

Logan speared a hand through his hair, berating himself for not knowing the right thing to say. Why couldn’t he make zyr happy? Tony Dex just had to grin, and Aaron would grin back. He hated even more that he had to struggle to find something to talk to his kyta about. He felt like he knew so little about what had really gone on in the last couple years of zyr life.

Maybe talking about what he did know about the present would be better than trying to dredge up the past.

“How about everything with the Dexes? I know Ronon can be intimidating, but he’s a good guy.” Logan chuckled and picked at a hangnail on his thumb. “I know he and I sound grumpy with each other a lot, but we’re really just teasing.”

A fierce blush stained Aaron’s cheeks. Zy rubbed zyr cheek on zyr jean-clad knee, which was an excuse to look away from Logan.

Huh. So that’s how it was. Tony or Ronon, he wondered. Probably not Tony, since zy was a kysra and probably more “safe” than “appealing” to Aaron.

Logan couldn’t decide if it was good Aaron’s first crush was on someone completely unattainable, or if was terrible because the inevitable heartbreak was that much closer. More likely than not, it was one of those things Tony would shrug and tell him, “It is what it is, control-freak man. You know it’s going to happen eventually, and you know Ronon would never lay a non-platonic hand on zyr, so let it go.”

“So which one is it, Tony or Ronon?”

Aaron sat up like zy’d suddenly discovered a sharp tack under zyr butt. “What?”

Logan barely repressed a grin. “The one who makes your heart go pitter-patter, tiger. Is it Tony or Ronon?”

“I—I’m not—it’s—”

Logan crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow skeptically. As he expected, Aaron caved almost immediately, making him smirk.

“Papa!” zy groaned, crossing zyr arms on zyr knees and hiding zyr beet-red face in them.

Logan bit down hard on his cheek to keep from laughing. Everything was so dramatic for teenagers, no matter their gender, and damn if Logan wasn’t glad to see it!

“Now, now. If you can’t confess to your papa, then who can you tell?” 

“Imgonna _die_!” zy wailed into zyr knees.

“The only danger is if you suffocate yourself,” Logan retorted.

Careful to watch for true discomfort or upset, he reached out and pried Aaron’s arms apart, then pulled zyr into his side and settled his arm around zyr to keep zyr in place. Embarrassed or not, Aaron obligingly curled into him with a soft sigh, zyr knees propped on Logan’s thigh, zyr shoes no doubt digging into the sofa just like zy had done when zy was little.

“Alright, tell Papa all about it.”

“You can’t say anything to _anybody_ ,” Aaron begged-slash-demanded into the black stripe on Logan’s uniform jacket.

“I’d never.”

Aaron heaved a dramatic sigh and batted Logan’s hand away from zyr head where he had given into temptation and had started to tidy the messy, dark mop masquerading as his kyta’s hair, which smelled like the lemongrass-sage shampoo that had just shown up in their bathroom one day.

“Don’t!”

“Okay, okay. Sorry.”

Logan gave in and let Aaron capture his hand, mentally cheering. Aaron clasped his hand in both of zyrs and hugged it to zyrself just under zyr chin, something else zy used to do when zy was little. The backs of Logan’s eyes burned, a mixture of relief that he hadn’t totally lost his kyta and grief that zy was so wounded that zy wanted and needed childhood comforts.

“It’s not a crush, not really. It’s just…. Did you know Tony’s _never_ afraid of Ronon? Darius is sometimes, but that’s ‘cause he’s scared of everybody except Tony most of the time. Me too, I s’pose. But Tony’s never scared of Ronon even though practically _everybody_ in the city talks about how scary he is. He’s so tough _nobody_ wants to get IST with him, and I heard how he was on the run from the Wraith practically forever! I mean, who else in Pegasus could survive the Zombie Apocalypse like that?!”

Utterly bemused after zyr long silences and hesitation to say anything above a whisper, Logan wondered if Aaron was ever going to take a breath. The way zy was babbling, it was like zy had given up breathing entirely.

“And then did you hear that when the Lorains brought the tanricu, Ronon thought one was gonna hurt Tony, and he stared it down? I mean, I know that the tanricu probably wouldn’t have hurt Tony, and they’re not really dragons like big dragons like in the movies, but I bet they’re still scary if you don’t know! And there were _three_ of them that day!”

“They sure are,” Logan interrupted, just to give Aaron a chance to breathe. “And they might not be movie-sized dragons, but they’re the creatures that take down aknata, and I wouldn’t want to face one of those suckers in a militarized Humvee.”

Aaron squirmed and shoved the back of zyr head against his shoulder so zy could look up at him with wide, awe-filled eyes.

“Really? Were you there? Did you see him stare it down?”

“Not that day, but I was there when Tony decided zy wanted to pretend zy was catnip…or should I say tanricu-nip?”

Aaron gasped, uncurling a little and grabbing his jacket. “Whoa! Tony didn’t say—I mean, I didn’t hear about that. Was that the day the Colonel got her tanricu? Papa, _what happened?!_ ”

Logan chuckled at Aaron’s excitement, delighted to see it still existed for things other than Tony or Darius.

“Things went about like they usually do when we take Tony off Atlantis: zy attracted the most deadly creature or person, made friends with it, made Ronon cranky, and made the rest of us need new skivvies.”

“Oh, come on!” Aaron protested even as zy snickered and snuggled back into his side. “That’s a terrible story. You can do better than that. You were much better at telling stories when I was a kid.”

_When zy was a kid? Zy is still a kyta_ , Logan grumbled silently. He briefly allowed himself to tighten his arm around zyr.

“Maybe later. I want to hear about your not-a-crush on Ronon first.”

Logan watched, fascinated by the way Aaron blushed from the tips of zyr ears and the top of zyr forehead all the way down zyr face and neck.

Zy ducked zyr head again and whined, “Papa!”

“Nope,” Logan teased and squeezed zyr upper arm. “You’re not getting out of it that easy. Tell me about the mighty Ronon.”

“Not if you’re going to make fun of me.”

“Sorry, tiger,” He could tell zy was pouting even if he couldn’t see zyr face anymore, so Logan repented immediately. “Won’t happen again, scout’s honor. Just tell me you haven’t seen him naked.”

When Aaron was silent, Logan frowned.

“Aaaaaron?” he rumbled, dragging out zyr name. He might need to have a Discussion with a capital “D” with Ronon if his kyta had somehow seen the man naked.

Not that he _really_ thought Ronon would parade around naked in front of Aaron or anything. Logan was paranoid, and he knew it. Most days, he could even admit it, though he couldn’t stop himself from seeing everything and everyone as a possible threat to his kyta. He was constantly torn between the desire to wrap Aaron in cotton wool and keep zyr a child forever, and the desire to make sure zy had everything zy needed to become a successful, independent adult.

Anyone who said parenting was easy was either a fool or a liar.

“Not naked, no. And it was an accident! Really!”

“Uh-huh. An accident how?”

“Um, he didn’t know I was there, and he couldn’t find the shirt he wanted to wear. He wandered into the living room where I was playing with Darius.”

“He thought his shirt might be in the living room?” Logan asked, the question dripping with disbelief.

“No.”

Logan could almost hear Aaron roll zyr eyes and gave himself a mental fist bump. He’d take an exasperated kyta any day over a fearful one.

“He was looking for Tony. I guess he thought his shirt was in the laundry room, but he got in trouble for discoloring a bunch of stuff when he washed Tony’s new jeans with all their whites.”

Logan snorted. “Oh, he’ll pay for that.”

He could feel Aaron nodding.

“Uh-huh. Tony came in the room a few seconds later—did you know zy kind of waddles like a duck, especially when zy’s tired now? It’s really funny, but don’t say anything to zyr!—and Ronon had to swear he didn’t touch anything in the laundry room, that he didn’t even go in there. And then Tony chased Ronon out of the room by poking him in the side and the stomach to make him walk ahead of zyr. Even Darius thought it was funny.”

Logan laughed as Aaron giggled. It served Ronon right to end up a hen-pecked or, more accurately, kysra-poked husband.

“So what did you think, other than enjoying Ronon’s laundry-mishap shame?”

A shrug. “He has a lot of muscles. His arm is bigger around than my thigh!”

Logan couldn’t disagree with that. Ronon Dex had a damned twelve-pack instead of six-pack abs, the bastard. 

Aaron squirmed and almost whispered, “I saw…he has hair. It’s like, all under his arms and in a line low on his stomach that goes into his pants.”

Of course Aaron would have noticed something like that. Logan wanted to bang his head against the wall. No, he wanted to bang _Ronon’s_ head into a wall.

“You thought that was interesting, huh?”

“Maybe. Mostly, I was surprised. And a little grossed out by the hair, but….” Aaron shrugged again. “He’s just… _different_. He’s really big and strong, but he’s really gentle with Tony, and he’s _soooo_ careful with Darius. For real, Papa, that kid could be made out of glass or something and _still_ not get a scratch.”

“That’s the way it should be, tiger.” Logan paused to consider his words. He didn’t want to push Aaron, but maybe this was the opportunity he’d been waiting for to get zyr to talk about some of the shit zy’d been through. “Do you know someone hurt by an XY? Maybe a big, strong XY?”

Aaron went completely still against him. Zyr fingers were squeezing his hand so tightly he was starting to wonder if he’d lose circulation in his pinky. He kept silent and waited.

“What if—what if he wasn’t that big or strong? What if it wasn’t super-horrible-bad, but….”

Logan reclaimed his hand and pulled Aaron in to his lap. Even if Aaron didn’t need to be held and comforted, Logan needed to hold zyr as long as zy was alright with it. He wanted to go back in time and rescue his kyta before any darkness had touched zyr.

Aaron’s fingers immediately clenched in his uniform, one hand practically strangling the open zipper. Logan began to stroke Aaron’s hair the way he had when zy’d been a toddler and he had rocked zyr to sleep long after zyr mother had told him to quit because it would spoil him.

If he was being honest with himself, he’d been grateful at the time that Molly hadn’t been interested in doing some of that sort of thing because it meant Logan could. He’d loved holding his kyta, telling zyr stories, listening to zyr prayers, and rocking zyr to sleep at night. He’d been the one Aaron turned to immediately when zy wanted to feel safe. That’s part of why it was so hard for Logan to see how close Aaron was to Tony now. It was jealousy, pure and simple.

“Wanna tell me what did happen?”

Aaron hesitated several heartbeats, and Logan could tell zy had that “listening” pose again. Then zy said softly, “I talked to ’Lantis because she had to fix…. Uh, ‘Lantis says I should tell you.”

“I think Atlantis is right.”

There was something he’d never thought he’d say when he’d been shipped to the city. Of course, the city wasn’t supposed to be alive either, not that he wanted to change things now.

“You know Mom’s husband, Ray?”

Feeling like he was choking on dread, Logan made an affirmative sound.

“I always knew he hated me, even before they got married. He always looked at me like I was gross or something.” Aaron pulled in a shuddering breath. “A few months after he married mom, I was trying to make a big thing of pasta because Ray’s brother and sister-in-law were coming to dinner. I was doing okay, just like I learned in class, but I knew he was in the kitchen, and he made me nervous.

“He had the newspaper out, but I knew he was just pretending to read it. He had it all unfolded and up like he was reading, but he’d shake it, and I’d jump. Every time I did, he made this kind of noise like he was laughing through his nose. Kind of laughing without actually laughing sound, you know?”

“Yeah, I know what you’re talking about.”

“Well, anyway, he kept doing that, and I kept getting more and more nervous. The last time he did it, I had the dish of red sauce in my hands. I shouldn’t have picked it up until my hands were dry, but I just didn’t think about it.”

“He startled you, and you dropped the dish, is that it?”

Aaron nodded and whispered into Logan’s chest, “It broke. The dish did. The sauce went _everywhere_ , even the ceiling, and Ray—Ray got _so_ mad. I was just standing there, like an idiot.”

“You were in shock, Aaron. It happens to everybody when something bad happens when we’re already upset,” Logan explained gently.

Aaron made a soft sound of disbelief. “That’s not what Ray said. It turned out the dish was one that had belonged to his mom or grandma or somebody. He grabbed me by my throat and jerked me through the mess of sauce. He started screaming at me. He slapped me in the face. It wasn’t so much that it hurt, but I just…. Nobody had ever slapped me like that. I just couldn’t take it anymore, and I s-st-st-started crying. Ray told me I was a p-pathetic little b-bi-bitch and hit me again.”

“Aw, hell, tiger.”

Even as he cuddled Aaron to his chest, Logan felt like he was being gutted. Why hadn’t zy told him? How had he failed zyr so badly that zy hadn’t felt like zy could trust him with this? If it had started shortly after Molly had remarried, that meant Aaron had been abused for _years_.

“Ray had no right to yell at you, no matter what happened. He _definitely_ had no right put his hands on you or hurt you when he was the one who was purposely upsetting you.”

Logan took a breath and braced himself mentally. “Did Ray hurt you again?”

Aaron hesitated long enough Logan thought zy wouldn’t answer. Zy nodded, finally.

“’Lantis fixed it,” zy said, holding up zyr hand.

Logan gently took Aaron’s wrist. “Your hand?”

“No.” Aaron wiped zyr nose on zyr other sleeve. “My wrist.”

“What happened?” Logan asked, cradling zyr wrist in his palm and brushing his thumb over the thin skin covering fragile bones, nerves, and tissues.

“’Lantis fixed it,” Aaron repeated. “There were scars from where they put all the pins and stuff in it.”

Logan closed his eyes and focused on maintaining his rate of breathing so Aaron wouldn’t know how truly furious he was.

“How’d—” He had to clear his throat. His voice was hoarse when he choked out, “How’d that happen, tiger?”

“I slammed my bedroom door. I was mad, I don’t know why, but I slammed it. That was against the rules.” Zy shrugged, reclaiming zyr hand and tucking both hands under zyr chin. “He came upstairs after me and slammed the door on my wrist. I think it was supposed to be my hand, but he pulled too hard. That was the worst time. I learned to be good after that,” zy said bleakly.

Logan held his kyta tight, so furious and anguished at the same time that he couldn’t speak for several seconds. Why had Aaron hidden this from him? How long ago had it been, and why the hell hadn’t he noticed when he’d seen Aaron last?! Had he really been that blind to Aaron’s suffering? The thought sickened him.

Fuck, how had _Molly_ (that _BITCH)_ hidden it? How dare she keep the fact that Aaron had been seriously injured from him!

Logan knew for a fact that McKay had gotten all of Aaron’s medical records. There were questionable incidents that had made Logan think Aaron had been the target of a bully or “minor” physical abuse—if that kind of thing could ever be called something so inane as minor—but he’d never had a clue Saunders had gone as far as purposely attempting to maim Aaron.

Just as disturbing was the realization that the only way a major surgery had happened without leaving behind any records was if it was done under another name, or if Saunders had gotten Aaron medical attention from somebody off-the-books. Heaven only knew what could’ve happened to Aaron in that kind of situation!

“I’m sorry that happened to you, Aaron,” Logan rasped finally. “I’m so sorry, tiger. My baby tiger.”

Aaron sniffled again, and Logan’s heart broke even more knowing that his kyta was crying completely silently. That was a learned behavior, not something kids just did on their own. It made him want to take another trip through the gate to get answers from the Bitch, and then find a necromancer to bring Raymond Saunders back and kill him real slow this time. If he’d known, that fucker would’ve _begged_ for death before he’d been through.

“There were other times, other things?” Logan asked softly, hoping Aaron would tell him about the pictures.

“Just when I screwed up.” A half-shrug, like it didn’t matter.

“Be straight with me, Aaron. How often did he hurt you?”

“It—I—I tried, but I never got stuff right. Every time I thought I knew how to be good—I tried, Papa, I did try!—I was always wrong. I _always_ screwed up somehow, so he had to punish me every week. Sometimes maybe a few times a week.”

That definitely explained why Aaron flinched away from him and every other XY if they moved too fast.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said firmly, burying his fury until he could get to a gym and take it out on the heavy bag. “People like him…they’re sick, _evil_. They like to hurt others and then make them think it’s their fault. The truth is _he_ was the one who was wrong and bad, tiger, not you. _Never you_.”

“You weren’t there,” zy countered.

“No, but I know you. I know you love to help, you love to make people happy, and there’s no way you ever did anything to deserve being hurt. You deserve to be treated with love and respect always, no matter what.”

Aaron turned zyr face into Logan’s shoulder and cried softly.

Logan’s throat tightened, his voice went rough with emotion, but he continued, “What I also know is that you’re kind and generous and _good_ in a way most people just aren’t. You are a wonderful young kysra I’m proud to call _my_ kyta.”

Tissues suddenly appeared on the sofa beside him. He huffed but appreciated the kindness Atlantis showed his kyta.

Pulling several from the box, he offered them to Aaron when zyr tears slowed. Logan kept rubbing Aaron’s back and stroking zyr hair while he waited out the emotional storm. It was an emotional release a long time coming, he was sure.

“Sorry,” Aaron apologized once the worst had passed.

“Nothing to be sorry for, tiger.”

Aaron mumbled something into his jacket he didn’t quite hear, but he got the gist of it.

“Hate to tell you this, but if you think tears and snot are the worst things I’ve ever had on this coat, you’re wrong.”

Aaron sat up a little and made a face. “Gross, Papa.”

“You don’t even want to know. At least Atlantis’ washers are a heck of a lot better than Earth’s.”

“Thank goodness for that!” Aaron scrunched zyr nose and balled up all zyr used tissues.

Logan used a few tissues to wipe his jacket off and then pulled Aaron back against him.

“Aaron,” he asked hesitantly, “where was the Bit—your mother when all of this was going on?”

Aaron gave a sniffing laugh. “It’s okay. I know you call her the Bitch. Atlantis told me. She doesn’t like that word, but I don’t mind if you only say it about _her_.”

“Uh-huh,” Logan said skeptically. “How ‘bout I stick with Molly instead? I can’t seem to call her your mother, since no mother worth the word would have let her husband hurt you.”

“Is it okay if I call her that too? I stopped thinking of her as my mom after Ray broke my wrist. She said I was lying when I told her.”

“That _bitch_!” Logan snarled, then shushed Aaron. “Sorry, I’m sorry, tiger. I’m not mad at you, not at all. Never mad at you, I promise. You survived in that mess, and I’m proud of you for that. I’m so proud of you for making it until I could get my head out of my ass and come get you.”

“You didn’t know,” zy whispered, adding, “but I’m glad you came for me. I like it here.”

“Me too.” Logan kissed the top of zyr head. “I’ll be a better Papa. I’ll protect you better, I promise.”

“Even though you hate my hair?”

Logan huffed and carded his fingers through the thick strands. “I might not like your haircut, but I love you, Aaron. You’re my kyta, my tiger. I’ll _always_ love you.”

Aaron cuddled into him with a tired but content sigh. “I know, Papa.”

It was one of those times Logan didn’t mind that Aaron seemed to have regressed to a slightly younger age in some ways. There were times that zy was much, much older than zyr years, and then there were times when zy seemed much younger, though those had all been with Tony until now. Logan felt like he’d missed out on so much of zyr life that he was grateful zy was willing to be cuddled like a child instead of rebelling and demanding independence like a typical teenager.

Still, he mentally made a note to check in with Doc Xander and find out who he’d recommend Aaron see for therapy. And here he’d thought he’d never be grateful Doc X had demanded all those shrinks. Aw, hell. Logan had better plan on appointments for Aaron and some for himself while he was at it. He didn’t have a clue how to deal with the severe abuse Aaron had endured; he just knew he wanted to be part of helping zyr heal.

“Good. I’m glad you know, but I’m going to keep telling you I love you until you’re sick of hearing it, just in case.” Logan rubbed Aaron’s back gently, eventually suggesting, “How about we go up to Dex Tower in a few minutes? I wanna make sure Ronon knows he better keep his damn shirt on around my kyta before Atlantis moves us in. I assume you haven’t changed your mind about that.”

“Oh my gosh, Papa, _noooo_!” Aaron sputtered, scandalized. Zy hadn’t pulled away, so Logan thought zy couldn’t be too horrified.

“No? Well, I guess we can stay in our apartment we have now,” Logan gently teased.

“I still want to move in, but you can’t say that to Ronon!” Aaron protested. Zy raised zyr head to frown at Logan, zyr eyes and cheeks swollen from crying, only to find him smirking at zyr. Zy huffed, then started to giggle. “And you owe like, _ten dollars_ to the swear jar! Ten dollars and fifteen minutes on a jumper ride at _minimum_!”

Logan just laughed and braved Aaron’s disastrously messy waves to kiss the side of zyr head, agreeing easily to zyr fine. He’d pay any penalty if it meant seeing Aaron happy. He’d even move in with a toddler, a pregnant kysra, and Ronon Dex.

*~*~*~*

_Serreday, Bhaskara 26, First Year of the Returned  
(July 5, 2008)_

Logan sat in one of the ridiculously comfortable recliners Atlantis had made for him and set up in his room. There was plenty of space for those, his bed, dresser, and a desk almost as large as the one he had in his office. He wasn’t home often to use much of it, so it was just as well he’d folded like a cheap suit and had turned over the actual office space to Aaron for zyr sewing projects. Zy had already started churning out blankets and clothes for Darius, and zy was working on a variety of other things too.

Logan cleared his throat, trying to mentally prepare himself for his next conversation.

“Atlantis? Would you mind coming to speak with me?”

Atlantis appeared instantly, seated in the companion chair to his own. Thankfully, she wasn’t in one of her goddess of the universe outfits. She still didn’t look human, she couldn’t really with her strange eyes, but the green halter top and crisp, white slacks made her seem a little more approachable. The henna, or whatever her sparkling gold equivalent was, that decorated her hands and wrists was a little different, but Logan could deal with that.

“Hello, Logan. Are you well?”

“Yes, thank you.” Logan paused, then asked, “And you? I mean, are you doing well? You’re happy with how things are going?”

She tilted her head and gave him a little smile. “I am rarely asked, so I appreciate your courtesy. To answer you, I am very well. I am pleased the _Daedalus_ will soon depart, and I am not unhappy with the negotiation process thus far. Although, I find myself impatient with the lack of progress in having more of my kysra returned to me.”

“I’d imagine it’s frustrating to deal with humans at times. We’re not able to think or process things as rapidly as you are.”

“No,” she disagreed, “that does not frustrate me. I have known humans for many thousands of years. At times, I am perplexed by their logic or infuriated by their willful blindness, but I am not frustrated by that which humans cannot help. It would be like you being frustrated by the Grant’s pet because it does not think or process things as you do.”

“We’re so different that you know not to expect us to be your equal, is that it?”

“I suppose that will do for now.” Her star-filled black eyes studied him for a few seconds. “I think that is not what you truly wish to speak to me about. You must know by now that I am fond of you. Please, simply state that which is on you mind.”

Logan let out a sharp laugh. “Direct. I can appreciate that. Alright. The thing is, you’ve changed Aaron. Zy is Satedan now.”

“Clearly.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. Zy has the memories of former Sateda. Zy is genetically different in that zy has no Earth or Alteran genetics. I’ve seen it change zyr subtly—nothing bad, or I’d have said something before, but there are things that zy understands or expects automatically that I don’t and can’t anticipate. Of course, zy hears you, and I suppose that has an impact on how zy behaves.”

“This bothers you,” Atlantis stated, curling her legs beneath her in an oddly human move to get more comfortable. He had to wonder if it was for his benefit, or if she really enjoyed sitting that way in her humanoid form.

“Yeah, it does. Zy’s my kyta. I don’t like feeling like zy’s becoming someone I can’t understand because I don’t have the genetics and the memories that zy does.” Logan sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I’ve also been thinking about my role here. I know you’ve granted me long-term residence, but I’m thinking about my role as Chief of Security. How much better would I be at my job if I could hear you like Tony does?”

Atlantis tilted her head and raised one eyebrow. He’d like to think maybe he’d surprised her, but in a good way.

“You speak of changing you, making you genetically Satedan.”

“I guess I am. Would you be willing to do that, or am I too old?”

“You are not too old,” she replied, flicking her fingers as though getting rid of bit of fuzz or something else trivial. “I find the idea of changing you quite agreeable. I would like to be Joined to you as I am to the rest of the Dex household. Not only that, but I would be able to assist you in your role as Chief of Security.”

She hmm’d, and added, “In fact, perhaps I should make that position one that I appoint rather than permitting Earth to dictate.”

Logan offered her a wry smile. “Well, I can’t tell you what to do there, but you might want to hold off on that until your negotiations with Earth are over. There’s no reason to rock the ship when things are going well there.”

“Logical advice, and I shall save the pun for Rodney. He does so love to hate them.”

She chuckled fondly, and Logan wondered for the millionth time what McKay’s relationship with Atlantis was. He had his suspicions, but he wouldn’t ever voice them, especially since he was asking for what he suspected McKay had already asked and received.

“I shall wait to assert myself further, Sgt. Major. As for you, I only need to know when you would like to begin. You must have two full days for the genetic change, your Interim, and then observation while you sleep and I repair your body, and a shorter observation time after you wake.”

Logan nodded. “I anticipated I’d need a couple of days at least. I asked Sheppard to give me next Tesladay and Noetherday off for personal reasons. He agreed, provided nothing too crazy happens at Tony’s birthday party or the _Daedalus’_ departure.

“I do need to talk to Aaron about this ahead of time. Dr. Picard said Aaron has felt powerless most of zyr life because of being a kysra. Being trapped in an abusive household made it that much worse, so zy needs to feel safe and empowered now. I think zy will be alright with this, but I don’t want to spring it on zyr like it’s a done deal no matter what zy thinks.”

He also didn’t want to traumatize zyr by making himself unavailable for more than two days as he was changed. If Aaron didn’t want it to happen, then it wouldn’t. Nothing was more important to him than Aaron, and he was working hard to make sure zy knew it.

“That is acceptable. Zy and Darius Dex are in the living room,” she said, rising gracefully. “I shall accompany you to discuss your decision. If zy has questions, I will be able to provide answers to you both, and remaining in this form ensures you both will hear the answers.”

Logan quickly rose and followed, realizing she intended to talk to Aaron immediately. “Er—yeah. Sounds good.”

He only had a few seconds to wonder if he was making a wise decision. He reminded himself it wasn’t much of a decision. Atlantis was the safest and best option for Aaron, and Logan would never leave his kyta again. There was nothing left for either of them on Earth.

*~*~*~*

"C'mon, Darius."

Darius wasn't quite sure where he was supposed to come since Dada was holding him in one arm and balancing him on zyr hip, so he sucked his thumb and stayed quiet. He held onto Dada with his other hand as zy picked up a bottle of that slippery stuff that Papa and Dada put on Dada's tummy at night. Dada tossed two of those big, big towels over zyr other shoulder and padded over to the big bed Dada and Papa shared all the time.

Darius shared it with them lots too, but not all the time now. Sometimes he liked to sleep in his own bed (low to the floor and soft and just the right size for him, with lots and lots of blankets he could snuggle under to stay warm) in the nursery where Papa’s snores weren’t so loud in his ears. He felt bad for Dada, though, because it seemed like on those nights Papa made all sorts of noises, so many that Dada made noises at him to make him be quiet.

"Ugh," Dada grunted, setting Darius down to stand on the bed and climbing on after him. "Alright, let me get this all ready."

Darius wasn't sure what Dada was getting ready, but zy smiled at him in that way he had that made Darius feel all gooey inside just like one of Dada's chocolate chip cookies. Those were Darius' favorites. Darius didn't like to eat most times because eating reminded him of all the times while he lived at the dark, scary place when he was hungry and scared and got in trouble for eating something that belonged to someone else. Now, though, when he could stand to eat, he liked Dada's chocolate chip cookies best.

He watched as Dada stretched out zyr long legs—longer than Darius' whole body!—and spread the towel out between them. Zy put the bottle of slippery stuff beside zyr knee, then zy smiled at Darius again and helped him balance as he walked on the squishy-wobbly bed until he was standing on the towel.

"Alright, baby boy, I was telling Doc Xander about how dry your skin has been lately, and he said that we should try some of my jojoba oil on you. Let's get your clothes off and see what you think."

Darius had no idea what Dada was talking about. He did know it wasn't bath time again yet, which was when he normally took off his clothes. Maybe Dada was confused because zy hadn’t seen Darius last night because he’d slept with his Aaron instead of his Dada and his Papa. Darius really didn't understand why he'd need Dada's slippery stuff put on him. He wasn't getting a big tummy like Dada was.

Darius must have been giving Dada a funny look because zy chuckled as zy helped him out of his clothes. Then zy laid him on his back on the towel.

"Yeah," Dada said. Zy got wrinkles between zyr eyes, and zyr mouth turned down at the corners as zy ran zyr fingers down Darius' side. "That's what I thought. You're starting to get red here where you've been scratching. Has it been itchy here?"

He was? Darius raised his head to look. Huh. Oh, that spot. He grunted and used one hand to scratch it to let Dada know that spot was itchy lots.

Dada moved his hand. "It is, huh? Well, this should help.”

Darius watched in fascination as Dada picked up the bottle of slippery stuff and poured some in zyr hand just like Darius had seen Papa do before he rubbed it into Dada's tummy. Zy closed the bottle and rubbed zyr hands together.

"Doc Xander told me all sorts of things about massage helping with digestion and increased circulation too, which should help you regulate your body temperature better," Dada murmured as zy put both hands on Darius's shoulders, squeezed gently and moved inward and down.

Darius didn’t know what any of that meant, but it didn’t sound bad.

Ooo, that felt good! Dada's hands were really warm, and the slippery stuff made them slide without pulling on his skin. Darius cooed and let his arm drop to the side, his thumb falling out of his mouth.

“Feels good, huh?” Dada smiled at him, and Darius smiled back. "I'm glad. Doc Xander said it would be good for Papa and me to give you massages anyway to promote parent-child bonding since you're adopted, which just means we didn't get to have you when you were an itty-bitty baby. We missed out on that time, but we'll make it up."

Darius didn't know what bonding was either, but he really liked this whole massage thing. No wonder Dada liked it when Papa put the slippery stuff on zyr tummy. Except Dada was even putting that stuff on Darius' arms and hands. He was so lucky!

Back when he lived in the scary place, he didn’t know places like where he lived now were real. He never dreamed he’d have a Dada and a Papa _and_ an Aaron!

"I don't know how this will taste, but it's supposed to be alright if you get some in your mouth. I told Doc Xander you're a thumb-sucker." Dada kissed the back of Darius' hand and smiled. Zy licked zyr lips and rubbed more slippery stuff over the spot zy had kissed.

"Hmm," zy said, tilting zyr head to the side in a thoughtful expression. "It doesn’t taste like much of anything, so that's good I guess."

Dada kept going, stroking zyr hands all over Darius slow and smooth. Darius hardly noticed when Dada turned him over so zy could put slippery stuff on his back and his legs. Dada rubbing his back felt so good that Darius startled himself by making more humming sounds. Dada just laughed softly, so Darius checked that it was a good laugh. When he saw Dada smiling that gooey cookie way, he relaxed even more and didn’t bother making himself be quiet like he would’ve back in the scary place.

Big people in the scary place had hurt him if they caught him making sounds, but Dada and Papa and Aaron all seemed to like it. That was just one way Darius’ new place was different from the scary place.

"Not directly on the spine," Dada said softly, like zy was repeating something zy'd been told. "My little boy is fragile, isn't he? Gotta make sure you get lots of healthy foods so you can grow up strong."

Darius hmm’d softly. He'd heard Dada and Papa talk about making sure Darius had good food lots of times. Even Aaron talked about that sometimes when Darius didn’t want to eat. It was another way living with them was so different from the scary place he'd lived before. He'd been so cold and hungry, and his tummy and his head _always_ hurt there. So many things were bad at the scary place. Darius tried not to think about that place very much except when he was asleep and couldn’t help it sometimes.

Darius only really noticed being turned onto his back again because he felt cold and shivered. Right away, Dada tucked the other towel over him to make him warm and went back to rubbing that stuff on his legs and his feet. Dada always noticed stuff like that, like if Darius was cold or sad or scared, and made it better.

Dada was still talking, but Darius wasn’t really listening anymore. He did like hearing Dada talk to him, even if he didn’t understand what zy was saying. Dada’s voice made him feel warm and safe; especially when zy was talking all soft like zy was now. He couldn’t remember anybody talking low and nice like that to him before Dada.

Darius yawned and sucked his thumb back in his mouth. He felt floppy and too sleepy to pay much attention to anything. Maybe he and Dada could have nap time. He liked taking naps with Aaron or Papa, but Dada was best of all. Papa was big-Big- _BIG_ and sometimes scared Darius even though Darius knew he was safe because he’d helped Dada save him from the scary-dark place. Snuggling with his Aaron was good too, but zy wasn’t Dada. Darius liked anything that meant curling up with Dada. _Nobody_ was like Dada. Dada had found Darius and saved him and made everything brighter and safe and happy.

Darius drifted, not totally awake, but not asleep either. Dada had stopped talking. Now zy was singing quietly, like zy knew Darius was half asleep. (Dada always knew _everything_!) Finished with his legs, Dada covered them with the towel and moved down to Darius' feet.

Darius' thumb dropped out of his mouth, and he cooed when Dada slid zyr thumb up the bottom of his foot. It felt good and made his toes spread apart. He looked up and wiggled them happily.

"Awake, sweet boy?" Dada chuckled.

Darius hummed and wiggled his toes again to tell Dada he wanted more stuff on his feet. Dada smiled big until the corners of zyr eyes crinkled. Zy teased, "Oh, I see how it is."

Darius nodded and went back to watching zyr sleepily when Dada switched to the other foot. At some point, he'd put his thumb back in his mouth, so he sucked on that, hooking his first finger over his nose as he did. He wondered where his blanky was. He always had a Nemo blanky if it was time for a nap, and he was feeling really, _really_ sleepy now.

He was soon so sleepy that he hardly realized Dada was putting his diaper on him. Then zy was saying something about Thomas as zy lifted his foot and put something over it.

Oh, Thomas meant the green jammies with that thing Dada called Thomas the Train on them. Those were one of Darius’ favorites. He didn't know what a train was, but the Thomas the Train on his front had a big, puffy face with big, puffy cheeks, and a big, big smile like he had a dada and a papa and an Aaron of his own and got to eat lots and lots all the time. He looked like a happy train.

The jammies even had little bumps on the outsides of the bottoms of the feet. Once when Darius had wiggled his foot at Papa to ask what they were, Papa had grinned and put Darius’ foot against his mouth. Then he blew hot air and made a funny sound that made Darius freeze and stare at him because he thought he was crazy. Aaron had giggled, so Darius had decided it must be okay. Weird, but okay.

Later, Darius had wiggled his foot at Dada. Zy had understood and had told him that the bumps were supposed to help his feet grip so he didn't slip and fall. That was sort of confusing because Darius didn’t really walk on the slippery floors. He loved it when his dada and papa and Aaron held and carried him, and they did that a lot. They put him down on the soft floors, though, so maybe the bumps helped with not-slippery floors too?

All he knew was his train jammies were really, really soft and warm. Dada said it was something called fleece. Darius’ Aaron had made sure most of his clothes felt like that. He didn’t know why Dada and Papa and Aaron wore clothes that didn’t feel soft and nice on their skin all the time. Big people were strange sometimes.

“Uhh!” Darius protested around his thumb when Dada took away the towel keeping him warm, shocking himself. He _never_ would have dared make a sound like that back in the scary place!

“Aww, I know, baby, I know,” Dada crooned, not mad at all. “Just let me get your arms in your sleeves and zip you up. You’ll be all warm again in no time.”

Darius let Dada take his hand and slide it through the arm hole. He stuck his thumb back in his mouth as soon as zy let go. Dada laughed softly and worked around Darius’ arm to get the top of his jammies on. Darius automatically raised his chin when he felt and heard the zipper being zipped up. Dada said that was so he didn't get a pinch from the zipper, but then zy always put zyr finger at the top when zy zipped the last little bit, so that never happened anyway.

“There ya go.” Dada yawned big. “Doc Xander should have warned me that giving a toddler a massage was going to make both the toddler and his Dada sleepy.”

There were more sounds, and the bed shifted as Dada moved and set stuff on the floor.

“C’mere, my sweet Darius.”

Darius barely opened his eyes as Dada picked him up and stood. The towel he'd been on was tossed to the floor over the first one, and Dada pulled back the covers on the bed.

“What do you say you and Dada have a little nap?” zy asked as zy settled them into the big bed.

Darius cooed around his thumb. He didn't really need his Nemo blanky if Dada was going to take a nap with him.

“Yeah,” Dada chuckled and yawned again, turning on zyr side and letting Darius snuggle close and put his ear over that spot on Dada's chest that made thu-thump, thu-thump sounds Darius could hear if he listened real close. Even better, zy pulled the blankets over them and held Darius tight. “That’s about what I thought you’d say. Dada loves you, sweet boy.”

“Dada,” Darius sighed contentedly and let his eyes fall closed again.

He was safe and warm and so sleepy in Dada's arms. Maybe Darius’ Papa and his Aaron would be home when he woke up. Then everything would be perfect.

*~*~*~*

_Chernday, Bhaskara 28, First Year of the Returned  
(July 7, 2008)_

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Atlantis.”

“Certainly.”

Atlantis inclined her head gracefully and watched the fascinating being sitting across the table from her. She had never met an Asgard, though she had read the reports generated by the SGC, of course. It was intriguing that an entire species had chosen to clone themselves into near extinction. Why they had chosen such a fragile and disproportionate body was beyond Atlantis’ ability to reason, and that said nothing of what they’d done to themselves hormonally. They had ended up asexual and genderless, which made no sense if they were once a gendered race that reproduced sexually.

Atlantis had read about Barion’s Syndrome, of course, yet that could not account for all the physiological changes between their current form and what SGC reports stated the Asgard had told them the original Asgard were like. Simply from observing humans over her lifetime, she knew that only a fraction of sexual function was for reproductive purposes. For the majority, it was a method of obtaining vital physical and emotional connection with a chosen partner. Only the Alterans were so foolish as to discount the need for such connections, and look where that had gotten them!

“Mr. Woolsey is uncomfortable with a private discussion between the two of us; therefore, I will be concise,” Hermiod said frankly, his large, black eyes fixed on her. “As you know, I am the Asgard advisor stationed on the _Daedalus_. I represent the interests of the Asgard High Council, and I control the Asgard technology we presently allow humans to utilize in their defense of themselves and their planets.”

“I am aware.”

“Then you are also aware that when you _appropriated_ beaming technology from the _Daedalus_ , you took not from the Tau'ri, but from the Asgard.”

Ah, so that was the problem.

“You permitted your technology to be used on a vessel that docked on my physical structure. No attempt was made to communicate with me. In fact, no attempt was made to see if I was sentient much less sapient,” Atlantis stated calmly when the being seemed to glare. If he expected her to be intimidated, he had another think coming. “You certainly had the means to do so, but you did not. As the Earthers had already proven themselves dangerous, it was only logical to scan a vessel under their command.”

Hermiod narrowed his eyes at her. “You could have scanned the _Daedalus_ without stealing Asgard technology.”

“What I adapted from Asgard beaming technology are minor changes to technology I already possessed and used frequently.” Atlantis allowed herself a small smile as she chided, “If you wished to retain proprietary rights to this piece of technology, then you should have prevented the Earthers from putting it in a position to be scanned. One would think the Asgard had learned from their experience with the Milky Way replicators that not all life is organic.”

If she was correctly interpreting the look on Hermiod’s triangular face, he was furious with her. The raspy noise he made indicated the same.

“Perhaps, Hermiod-of-Asgard, it would be more productive if you ceased your accusations of theft and simply told me what it is the Asgard wish from me that they cannot trust Earth’s representative to negotiate for.”

When glaring did nothing more than cause Atlantis to raise one eyebrow at him, Hermiod made a dissonant sound and said, “Very well. You have doubtless read the Tau'ri accounts of the genetic problem among my people.”

“Indeed. Methods of genetic manipulation and cloning such as the Asgard have utilized are quite precarious. I am not surprised to find that there are unforeseen, long-term problems associated with such. I must admit to confusion that the original Asgard did not recognize the problem of cloning previously cloned organisms. The law of diminishing returns is one that remains constant throughout both our galaxies.”

“As it did in our home galaxy, Ida. It is a question many of us have contemplated over the centuries,” Hermiod admitted before making another rather dissonant sound, this time in three separate octaves.

How _fascinating._

“I believe my ancestors assumed we would technologically advance to a point that we would solve the problem or be able to mitigate the damage in order to slow the rate of decay. They could not have anticipated our war with the replicators would cause the destruction of many of our medical facilities as well as the original organic samples.”

“True. It is most unfortunate that your people will become extinct before even the Earthers. It will be an enormous loss to the entire Milky Way galaxy when the Asgard are no more. Of course, you could ascend through a machine like the Alterans used,” Atlantis allowed her expression to twist with distaste, “but then you would no longer be able to affect matters; you would only be able to watch. As the Earthers would say, it would be a pyrrhic victory.”

“Indeed,” Hermiod agreed, “which brings us to my true reason for requesting this meeting. The Asgard High Council hopes you will be willing to help us.”

Finally they arrived at the heart of the conversation.

“Perhaps,” Atlantis told him. “I will not make promises I cannot keep, such as being able to provide a solution quickly or easily; however, I am aware it is in all our best interest for the Asgard to remain among the non-ascended living. I have no wish to deal with the remaining Goa’uld nor the Ori, especially when I must deal with the atrocities the Alterans left in my galaxy.”

Hermiod blinked his wide, tear-drop shaped eyes. Atlantis was not sure if that could be taken as surprise as in a human, or if it indicated another emotion. She was becoming more interested in studying Asgard physiology purely to satisfy her own curiosity.

“Then you should know that we are close to having to initiate our fail-safe in order to prevent the Ori or other unworthy beings from gaining access to Asgard technology.”

Atlantis studied Hermiod through narrowed eyes, extremely displeased. She did not like the sound of what Hermiod was likely implying. “You speak of mass self-destruction. That is the only way you could guarantee preventing such a thing.”

Hermiod inclined his head and gave a very human sigh. “I am. Even now, Supreme Commander Thor and the High Council discuss his intention to gift our technology to the Earthers, then recall all Asgard to Orilla, where we will destroy our planet, our remaining technology, and ourselves.”

“Ridiculous!” Atlantis snapped.

She was deeply annoyed that the Asgard seemed to be as overly dramatic as some Earthers, and she was furious that such advanced technology would be gifted to a planet whose leaders were completely incapable of making beneficial decisions for anyone, including themselves. Many of Earth’s leaders were not aware that the Stargate existed. Those who were aware squabbled among themselves more than they did anything else. Putting that kind of technology into the hands of such foolishly willful children would see them—and all Atlantis’ lost kysra!—destroyed within a few years at most. It was absolutely unacceptable!

Atlantis forced herself to speak calmly, as she knew an emotional argument would not sway the being before her. “The destruction of an entire species is illogical and unnecessary, Hermiod-of-Asgard. Even if I cannot reverse the effects millennia of cloning have had on your people, I am quite capable of crafting bodies made of nanites into which your minds can be transferred. Without the threat of extinction, your military would be able to continue the fight against the Ori, and I would be willing to continue researching with your scientists to find a better, permanent alternative.”

Hermiod became utterly still. “What would you require for such significant help?”

Atlantis considered the question for .99752 seconds, as it was a grave matter that required deep thought.

“I would require that all Asgard beings be given bodies—I understand you have many who are presently stored due to host body incompatibility. While many or even most of you may return to the Milky Way, some of your people must remain in Pegasus and within my structure as _my_ allies first and foremost. Those who remain will understand and agree that if they are required to choose between Earth’s wishes and mine, they will _always_ side with me and my chosen, or they will be evicted from my structure with all due haste. Furthermore, in addition to the scientists who continue research on a solution for the Asgard, there must also remain some who are prepared to protect my chosen people and help research a means to destroy the Wraith once and for all.”

“Typically, the Asgard refuse to permit our technology to be used as weapons.”

Atlantis politely refrained from scoffing. “Hermiod, your people warred many hundreds of years against the Replicators. Now you war against the Ori. Do you truly believe your High Council will protest the eradication of a species that does not merely make war on all humans to the point of their extinction, but tortures them in the process?

“If so, please inform them that if we fall at the hands of the Wraith, then those beings will continue into the Milky Way galaxy. As I have no reason to believe the Asgard would be immune to the Wraith feeding hand or weapons, the Asgard would die alongside the humans. Fight now and receive my aid, or fight and die later. Of course, I know not what to expect from a species who are willing to kill themselves. My Satedans have always been fighters to the end.”

“You make your point.” Hermiod said with what Atlantis thought might be a smirk. “I must take your offer to the High Council. I believe they will find your offer a reasonable alternative to the extinction of our people by disease, Ori, or Wraith. However, we will need to negotiate the number of Asgard to remain here.”

“From all accounts, the Asgard appear to be a logical people, unfortunate cloning decisions aside. I am certain we will be able to reach an agreement.”

Hermiod made another sound, this one harmonious, lower, and only two octaves. Perhaps it indicated he was pleased.

“The _Daedalus_ leaves tomorrow. I will contact the High Council as soon as we are within range. It is likely they will send an ambassador to complete negotiations.”

“I find that acceptable, and I offer the ambassador and their retinue safe harbor within my structure in faith that they come to negotiate for the benefit of all my chosen and all the Asgard.”

“I accept on the ambassador’s behalf. The Asgard will contact you without delay. Good day, Atlantis.”

“Good day and safe journeys,” Atlantis replied, well pleased.

Seeing no need for further niceties, Hermiod disappeared in a beam of light.

Tony had once accused Atlantis of giving zyr a cat-who-ate-the-canary smile. She thought it was probably that smile that she was wearing presently, if the way she felt at the moment was any indication. With the Asgard, she would have technologically advanced allies to fight against the Wraith—allies without prejudice against kysra or any other gender. Atlantis would also be able to sate her own curiosity about the species, a not-insignificant consideration.

Yes, it was indeed a victory worth smiling over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: The scene with Tony and Darius was one of the first written for _New Divide_. Crazy how it took me 200K to get there!


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

_Chernday, Bhaskara 28 (continued)  
(July 7, 2008)_

“I’d like to know what I possibly could’ve done to deserve this,” Tony lamented, staring at zyr reflection in the windows that Atlantis had helpfully turned mirror-like.

“I thought you liked parties and dressing up,” Aaron commented from the floor at Tony’s feet. Zy pulled another pin from the band on zyr wrist and deftly slid it into place so zy’d know where to sew the correct hem in the trousers.

Zy and Tony were in Aaron’s bedroom, making last-minute alterations on the suit Tony wanted to wear to zyr very public, belated birthday party. Most of the work had been done already in the room Aaron had turned into zyr sewing studio, but that wasn’t a space that was safe for Darius. The toddler was watching in fascination from his spot on Aaron’s bed, his bright eyes fixed on Aaron’s fingers, while sucking his thumb and rubbing the satin border Aaron had added to his Nemo blanky against his cheek.

Originally, Ronon had offered what would become the sewing room to Logan to use as an office, but the day they’d moved in, Aaron had taken one look and gone into raptures about how wonderful it would be for zyr sewing projects. It would catch all the best sunlight, plus it was directly across the courtyard from the nursery, and it was kitty-corner from the kitchen on one side and Aaron’s room on the other.

Logan had gotten a pained look, though that had disappeared before Aaron had turned around to see it. In the end, he’d ended up with the larger bedroom and a very nice desk Atlantis designed for him, and Aaron had the smaller bedroom and a sewing room for zyr machine and supplies. Sewing had been one thing zyr mother and stepfather had thought was appropriate for zyr to learn, so they had been willing to invest in a better-than-average machine and multiple attachments and feet to go with it.

Tony very kindly didn’t tease Logan for caving before Aaron realized the previous intent for the sewing room. If nothing else, having Darius had made zyr understand a little better why most parents wanted to give their children everything they could. The intense love Tony felt for Darius made zyr own childhood that much more inexplicable.

Rather than abuse through neglect and violence, Tony was more worried that zy wouldn’t be able to discipline zyr children, especially Darius because of his background. Zy knew that would be as bad in its own way, so the entire family was scheduled to start counseling with Dr. Picard on Doc X’s recommendation. It would be hard, and it was a blow to zyr pride to admit that zy needed help, but Tony now had people in zyr life that were more important than zyr pride. Zy wanted to raise children who were both mentally and physically healthy.

Of course, no one could say no to Darius at the moment…Aaron either, for that matter. It was a good thing the Wolfe pup had no idea zy held such power over them all. Zyr innocent delight in every kindness any of them showed zyr made it easy to want to make zyr happy, especially after all zy had been through.

“I don’t mind parties or dressing up, but I like it to be on my own terms,” Tony explained sourly. “Events like this make me feel like I’m a kid again and being paraded out in front of people so my parents could be praised for raising such a good boy when neither one of them had anything to do with me if they didn’t have to.”

“Oh.”

Aaron was quiet, but Tony could see in the reflection that zyr brow was furrowed like zy was thinking about something and would ask when zy was ready. Tony decided to wait zyr out, turning when Aaron indicated and making faces at Darius to make him giggle, but otherwise not interrupting Aaron’s thinking.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Aaron prompted Tony to turn again and then asked, “Why do you think people have kids if they don’t really want them?”

 _Of course zy has to come up with a hard question_ , Tony thought dryly.

“Well,” zy started slowly, not wanting to give Aaron a flippant answer but not really wanting to get into specifics of things zy’d seen, “lots of reasons. I guess sometimes it’s because they’re irresponsible, which doesn’t necessarily mean young, though it can. Other times, it’s probably because they want something, whether it’s attention from other people or the unconditional love their own parents didn’t give them. Most of the time, I think people really believe they will be good parents, but they’re naïve about what being a parent really means as far as the level of time and energy a child requires.”

Tony certainly had been. Zy was incredibly grateful for all the support zy had just to help with Darius, and zy’d still decided to cut back to three quarters time at work. Zy was terrified to find out what having two children, two _babies_ , would be like. Zy was no Maria von Trapp…or Laryk Dex, for that matter.

“By the time those people know what it really takes to be a parent, it’s not like they can just leave the kid on an orphanage doorstep…” Aaron’s face twisted into a bitter, angry expression Tony had never seen before. “…unless they’re a kysra.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Tony found zyrself bending forward to rest zyr hand on Aaron’s shoulder. Aaron leaned into the silent comfort, zyr head briefly resting on Tony’s arm before zyr righted zyrself, and Tony straightened.

“Was that what happened with your parents?” Aaron asked more tentatively, not looking up from where zy was working on the other trouser hem.

“No, it wasn’t.” Tony sighed, wondering how much to explain. Zy had a feeling that Aaron wasn’t asking about Tony’s parents so much as zyr own. “You have to understand that my parents were both alcoholics. Addiction is bad enough, but my father was a conman too. He’s still a conman and a drunk—a very ugly drunk at that—as far as I know. He wanted a child because that was the ‘done’ thing at that time. He wanted the attention he’d get from other people, and he wanted physical proof of his own virility. I doubt he ever considered the fact that he’d be bringing another human being into the world. I know he never thought he’d be saddled with being the one responsible for me; he told me so when he sent me to a boarding academy when I was eleven.”

Aaron paused, a pin half way through the material. “I—I was gonna say that it’s not right that someone like that can have a baby, but then I realized that if he hadn’t, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Very true. My childhood was pretty terrible, I’m not going to lie, but I’m very happy to be here today. Ronon, my children, Atlantis, Rodney, you, and your papa…you all make what I lived through back then worth it.” Tony returned Aaron’s shy smile when zy glanced up at zyr and continued, “Now, if you’re wondering about your own parents and how you came to be here, I can’t tell you about your mother, but I know for a fact that your papa wanted you before he knew you existed. Like I said that first day you and I met, I couldn’t get to know him and become his friend without getting to know you a little bit as well.”

Aaron looked up again, a pleased smile on zyr lips this time, and whispered, “I’m glad I’m here too,” before ducking zyr head and returning to zyr task. “Just this side to go, and then you can take them off so I can hem them.”

“Alright,” Tony said, going along with the abrupt topic change. “But if I don’t take them off, does that mean you can’t hem them, and then I don’t have to go to the party?”

Aaron snorted a laugh. “No, it just means that I’ll get a backache because I’ll make you stand here so I can do it by hand.”

Tony heaved a melodramatic sigh. “Oh, fine.”

“It’s the Athosians, right? Teyla is really nice.”

“Yes, she is,” Tony agreed. “Remember what I said about people being kind of funny about kysra here, and about how they treat me like I’m some really famous person or a religious icon? Remember I said I had a friend who sometimes forgets and still calls me Kysra Tony?”

“Yeah. Do the Athosians do that?”

“Yep. Most of the Athosians still try to bow to me. Teyla usually remembers I’m just plain old Tony, but she forgets more when she’s with her people and calls me Kysra Tony. They very much treat me like an avatar of the gods. It’s awkward to say the least.”

“Hmm. The tanricu people are coming too, right? Are they better?”

“Sort of.”

And if Tony ever found out who let it slip to High Priestess Faerl that there was going to be a celebration for Tony’s birthday, they were seriously going to regret it. At least Starsong would be there. She couldn’t seem to stay away from the fisher birds, so Sam had her on “punishment” detail at negotiations and events, which Tony thought was hilarious.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like the Lorains, but they’re very matriarchal the same way that a lot of Earth is very patriarchal, and that can get weird because they tend to overlook anyone who isn’t a woman or me. They even disregard Ronon, which blows my mind. How can you just look past someone well over six feet tall and built like a brick house?” zy exclaimed in bewilderment. “It’s kind of like trying to overlook Big Ben in London, or the Eiffel Tower in France!”

“I have no idea. I wouldn’t think anybody could ignore Ronon,” Aaron snickered and tapped Tony’s ankle. “Okay, done. Get ‘em off so I can fix ‘em.”

Tony obediently stripped off the suit trousers and slid zyr sweats back on with a sigh. Zy crawled onto the end of Aaron’s bed, slipping one arm behind Darius and toppling him to his back in a controlled fall. Zy hovered over him on one elbow so zy could rub their noses together in an Eskimo kiss.

Darius grinned around his thumb and cooed, which meant Tony had to do it again, of course. Zy was kind of addicted to that happy sound. If zy were pushed, zy might even admit to being more than fond of the scent of baby powder softness and freshly laundered sleeper and blanky.

“Hey there, baby boy. How cute are you today in the fuzzy jammies Aaron made you? It’s been so dreary and rainy lately that it’s good you have lots of warm clothes, and this one matches your pretty eyes.”

Tony was quite impressed that Aaron had been able to whip out half a dozen fleece sleepers for Darius in such a short time. The one he was wearing now was made from the Baltimore Ravens fabric Tony hadn’t been able to resist, and it made Darius’ eyes almost look purple rather than blue-violet.

Plus, football. No child could become a football fan too soon. If Tony had been able to find Buckeye or Bengals fabric, no doubt Darius would be wearing sleepers made out of that every day of the year. Well, several times a week anyway. They’d have to wash them at some point.

Darius hummed and lifted the edge of his Nemo blanky to show Tony the blue satin border.

“Oh, wow; look at that! Aaron put smooth stuff on your blankies too, didn’t zy? That’s pretty awesome, huh?” Tony took the edge of the blanket and lightly ran the satin down the side of Darius’ face, making him sigh and his long, white lashes flutter. Tony grinned. “You do have a thing for texture, don’t you?”

“You know what? I think I’m not going to hem them on the machine. I’ll just do a quick tack down by hand,” Aaron said distractedly. “There’s still enough length that we’ll be able to change the hem again if we need to, so I hate to cut it off. I’ve got my kit for hand sewing stuff in here anyway.”

Tony scrunched zyr nose. “Are you sure we can’t just burn them?”

“Sure, we _could_ …but then you’d have to go in your sweatpants,” Aaron retorted, completely unsympathetic to Tony’s suffering. “Or, hey! I know how to make those maternity muumuus for delts. I’m pretty sure there’s one in my finished class projects, actually. I’d let you wear that if you really want to.”

Tony raised zyr head and stared at Aaron in horror until zy glanced up and burst into laughter. Who would’ve thought the puppy could be sassy?!

“Oh, you’re _definitely_ your papa’s kyta! You have the same sense of humor,” Tony pretended to frown sternly before giving in and rolling zyr eyes. “Darius, your cousin is going to be a terrible influence on you. I think Dada better stay home. What do you think?”

“Dada,” Darius readily agreed patting Tony’s cheek.

“Aww!” Darius was such a sweet baby. Tony lifted zyr hand to cup Darius’ and turned to kiss his palm. “Dada loves it when you talk to us. Do you think you’ve got anything else in there today?”

Tony didn’t even care that zy got slobber all over zyr face when Darius reached up with both hands to pat zyr cheeks.

“Me Dada. Day-wees’ Dada.”

Tony beamed at him. “Yeah, you’re exactly right. Darius’ Dada.”

Darius grinned, so happy his whole body wiggled when Tony touched their noses together again.

“If you think it’s really going to be that bad at the party, we could work out an emergency signal like Papa had me do for if I got scared. Atlantis would know when to beam you back home,” Aaron offered, zyr lips curling in a fond smile as zy watched Darius coo and wiggle happily.

“I wish. I think I’m obligated to see this one through unless there really is an emergency of some kind.” Tony sternly reminded zyrself zy was not allowed to wish for an emergency.

“Okay, but don’t say I never offered to help you. It’d be as quick as saying ‘not the muumuu!’ and you’d be safe.”

Tony snorted and moved onto zyr side. Darius, of course, immediately rolled into zyr and settled in for quality snuggle time. He really was the cuddliest little thing. “I know, puppy. Believe me, I know.”

*~*~*~*

Several hours later, Tony was standing in a stupidly huge ballroom filled with people, ruing zyr decision not to have an emergency escape plan. Zyr back hurt, zyr feet hurt, zyr head hurt, and zy had been hugged, touched, and petted by so many people that zy’d actually quit asking Ronon not to warn them away from zyr. If anyone else tried to kiss zyr—no matter if it was zyr cheeks, or hands—Tony was going to let Ronon shoot them. Not even Ronon’s ridiculous amounts of sexiness in his tailored suit could help Tony’s mood by that point.

The only good thing about the night was that Starsong’s new look was gaining her nearly as much attention as Tony was getting. Unfortunately, she was a lot more intimidating. One annoyed glare or puff of smoke, and people were satisfied with being able to admire her from afar. Tony had taken up a position next to Colonel Carter, and Starsong by default, purely out of self-preservation.

“Can’t you do something about all this?” Ronon growled at Carter from Tony’s other side.

Carter gave Tony a sympathetic smile. “Sorry, I—” she got a strange look and trailed off. “Actually, I just realized I think could if you really want me to.”

“For the love of the Five, _please_.”

“Alright. There will still be attention on you because I’ll need an extra set of hands, but you don’t have to say anything. I know you’re trying to be the friendly kysra and not scare people off, but you look like you need to go to bed, to be perfectly frank. Here’s my idea for what we could do….”

“Yes, perfect. I’ll take it,” Tony agreed once zy’d heard Carter’s plan. It was the best offer zy’d gotten all night. “Atlantis, would you beam them in?”

Tony didn’t think anyone noticed the small flash of light just behind Starsong. Carter quickly retrieved the two metal boxes Atlantis had beamed in and handed one to Tony after making sure it was the right one.

Turning back to the crowd, she straightened her shoulders and smiled. “Excuse me! If I could have your attention, please.”

Seeing that the kysra, the tanricu, and Colonel Carter were all standing together, the crowd of Athosians, Lorains, and Earthers quickly quieted and drew closer.

“Thank you. High Priestess Faerl, Leader Halling, would you please come forward?” Once they had moved through the crowd to stand before her, Carter smiled warmly at them. “Tonight is a celebration of Kysra Tony Dex, but zy has generously allowed me to have a small ceremony on the city’s behalf while you all are gathered here and before zy needs to retire for the evening.

“As you have seen, Starsong has grown significantly and has shed her old scales and armor plates, leaving behind the proof that she has chosen me as her windsister, and she is Mair of our city and our planet. The scales that once protected her now protect me.”

Carter touched her hand to her abdomen and the sleeveless, yellow bodice that was cut in a style similar to what Faerl and the other Lorain women wore, with laces up the sides and back to keep it tight against her body.

“I even wear one of her small armor plates,” she said as she ran her fingers over the shining blue armor plate that hung on a silver chain at the base of her throat and just above the neckline of the scales.

Tony had already commented that the yellow and blue colors were a match to Carter’s own blonde hair and blue eyes.

“There is no gift that can compare with how precious Starsong is to me. However…” Carter moved to stand in front of Faerl. “High Priestess Faerl, it is my hope to convey how much Starsong and I as well as the other Satedans value your friendship.” Carter stepped forward and pressed an indentation on the top of the lotus-shaped box. The metal petals retracted leaving a flat base. On a bed of glittering velvet was one of Starsong’s bright blue armor plates. “Please accept the gift of Starsong’s first shed armor plate as a token of our esteem for you, Swiftscream, and all the Verubriganians.”

As she accepted the gift, Faerl’s smile was as triumphant as it had been the day Carter and Starsong bonded. “As you say, so shall it be, Colonel Samantha Carter. Let our peoples be windsisters now and forever.”

“So shall it be,” Carter repeated grinning back.

Returning to Tony, Carter took the second box and moved to stand before Halling.

“Halling, you and the Athosian people became our first allies in this galaxy. Through Teyla, you’ve honored us with your unwavering friendship even when we were very, very young and had no idea how to be true people of Pegasus. Because of your patience and willingness to continue to teach a people who many times didn’t deserve it, when it came time to reveal the return of the kysra, Tony chose the Athosians first.” Carter opened the second lotus box to reveal another of Starsong’s armor plates. “Tonight, I again wish to honor the Athosian people. Thank you for your friendship and guidance. Please accept the gift of Starsong’s second shed armor plate as a token of our esteem for you, Teyla, and all the Athosians.”

Halling’s hands weren’t quite as steady as Faerl’s had been when accepting the metal box and its priceless contents. “It is my greatest privilege to accept your gift and reaffirm our steadfast friendship with you, Starsong, Kysra Tony, and all you govern. Let our peoples be united forevermore.”

“So shall it be.”

For the first time, Halling leaned forward and performed the _suren_ with an Earther leader, or as close as could be when both his hands clutched the metal-and-velvet base containing Starsong’s plate.

Carter straightened and moved back to Tony’s side. “Finally, I’d like to thank Kysra Tony.” She turned to zyr and said, “I know you’ve been told you need to rest now; I certainly don’t want to be the one to get you in trouble for being on your feet too long. Thank you for coming and for allowing us to share in your special celebration.”

Tony allowed zyr smile to include the entire crowd. “It was my honor, Sam. Thank you for everything, and a special thanks to Starsong who has agreed to allow people to take photos beside her. A more generous tanricu never existed.”

There was wild applause and exclamations from everywhere, which covered Starsong’s alarmed squawk.

“Told you consequences would get worse if you didn’t stay away from those stupid birds,” Carter laughed at her, still smiling and clapping.

Tony and Ronon quickly—or as quickly as possible—made their escape from the too-warm room. Just outside the door and out of sight, Atlantis took pity on them and beamed them directly into their apartment.

“I want a shower, my bed, my husband, and my baby.”

Atlantis helpfully informed them, //Aaron and Darius are already asleep in zyr bed. Aaron was unsure how long the party would last, and zy did not wish to disrupt Darius’ bedtime routine.//

“Oh, well, I want the other three then,” Tony pouted, toeing off zyr shoes and unbuttoning zyr shirt. Zy had already shed zyr suit jacket and tossed it onto one of the chairs.

Ronon guided zyr into the bathroom. “Come on, m’kysra. Let’s have a shower. I’ll put that oil on the kyta bump, and then we’ll see what we can do to make you feel better.”

“Oh, really?” Tony perked up, recognizing the offer underlying Ronon’s words. “Well, if _that’s_ on the table, then I think I could be persuaded to stop being bitchy long enough to try to remember what to do.”

Helping zyr shed zyr clothes since he’d already gotten rid of his own, Ronon gave zyr a predatory grin and purred, “Don’t worry. I’m sure I can remind you. I’m pretty good at that.”

Tony returned the grin and pulled him into the shower with zyr. “Yes, yes you are.”

*~*~*~*

_Keplerday, Bhaskara 37, First Year of the Returned  
(July 16, 2008)_

“Yay! Good job! Here, how about you try the lime green star now.” Aaron offered the toddler in zyr lap the new piece.

Aaron and Darius were on the living room sofa working on one of Darius’ new games. He’d moved beyond simply taking shapes out of a container and putting them back in. Now he was working to learn that there were different kinds of shapes.

Darius eyed the star for a couple seconds. When it didn’t do anything but sit on Aaron’s palm, he cautiously reached out and closed one hand around the smooth plastic. Further inspection required both hands. He touched it to the top of the shape sorter and gave a mini-grunt, turning his head to look up at Aaron to confirm his shocking discovery.

“Yeah, it’s the same color, isn’t it? Good job seeing that! You’re so smart!”

Darius didn’t say anything, but he did make that soft little cooing sound he had started doing when something made him happy. Other than Dada, Papa, me, Day-wees for Darius, and Ah-wen for Aaron, Darius still didn’t speak. He didn’t even say _no_ , which was just about every baby’s second or third word.

Of course, Darius was a different situation. He understood a lot, and Tony and Ronon both claimed he _could_ talk because he’d talked to them back on the silk thread planet; he just didn’t want to talk right now. Tony had said that Dr. Picard had told zyr it was an indication of PTSD, so they could encourage him, but they shouldn’t ever try to force him to speak when he didn’t want to. The fact that he was starting to make those little baby grunts and coos more often was a good beginning and a sign that Darius would recover.

Aaron had learned a lot about what Darius did and didn’t like over the last weeks. On the list of what Darius liked were: cuddling, being warm, snuggling, being held, and sleeping while being held. Oh, and snoozing while being warm and cuddled. Zy was pretty sure that if Darius could, he’d be in a K-tan and attached to Tony or Aaron all the time. Ronon tried to do as much as he could, and Aaron’s own papa had cuddled and held Darius for a few minutes sometimes, but there was only so much they could do because Darius panicked if Tony and Aaron were both out of his sight for very long. Nobody could stand the silent sobs and self-soothing rocking that happened when Darius panicked.

The way he clung to the kysra made sense because Darius hadn’t felt safe and loved for a long time, if ever. Plus, he only really thought kysra were safe because of what he’d been told before he’d been sent to Tony. Still, there were days that Aaron wondered if zy—or Tony more likely—needed to talk to Dr. Picard about what else they should be doing to help Darius before his fear and anxiety became something that made them all crazy. Aaron wondered if Dr. Picard had books zy could read in the meantime. Zy'd have to ask at zyr next session.

Other than being safe, warm, and cuddled, Darius liked soft things like his plain green blanket and the Nemo blankets Tony had made for him—with a _lot_ of help from Aaron.

(Tony was really smart and awesome at a lot of things, but just thinking about trying to teach zyr how to sew again made Aaron feel like being a turtle under Darius’ blanket with him. Zy might even do some rocking and crying while zy was under there, too.)

Darius only liked soft materials in his clothes. Jeans were a definite dislike, and the uniform material was way too rough for his taste. The only time he’d ever wanted Tony to put him down was when zy picked him up while zy was still wearing zyr uniform shirt and leather jacket. Darius had reared back from the leather smell, squirming and waving his hands unhappily at the texture of the uniform shirt. The second Tony was in zyr normal after-work t-shirt, Darius had clung like a limpet and rubbed his face against the worn-soft material.

Aaron was thinking of using more of Tony’s material to make Darius more sleepers, since those were what he really liked. Zy still had the pattern zy’d used for the first few zy’d made, and zy could make them just a little bigger since Darius hadn’t grown or filled out yet. Even if he did have a growth spurt soon, Baby Dex would need that size of sleepers at some point, so it wasn’t like the effort would go to waste.

After long talks with Aaron and several tries, Atlantis had made Darius a bunch of toddler toys. Some of them were a lot like the ones Aaron was familiar with, but even more were ones Atlantis either remembered or came up with herself. Darius usually liked the new games and toys when Aaron or Tony showed him, but he needed a lot of time to look over each piece first. Of course, he only wanted to do that if he was being held and felt safe.

Well, there were exceptions. Darius liked the toys as long as they were silent or at least fairly quiet. Darius did _not_ like anything that made loud noises. He didn’t like things that moved too fast or did anything unexpectedly. He definitely didn’t like toys that sang, played music, or made other sounds, especially shrill noises. Aaron was pretty sure the fisher birds were practically the devil incarnate in Darius’ little mind.

The one time he’d actually burst into real baby sobs and not the silent crying he did most of the time was when Aaron had been stupid enough to give him a toy that had parts that popped up plus played a sound when he pushed a button. Zy was pretty sure the only thing worse zy could’ve given him would’ve been a Jack-in-the-box that popped out a clown _and_ a fisher bird. Aaron and Darius both had gotten so upset that Atlantis had had to call Tony home, and zy had gotten to be the calm one who came in and rescued them that day. Aaron still felt guilty about it.

“Hey, tiger. How’s it going?”

Aaron looked up from where Darius was slowly and methodically trying the next opening in the shape sorter to see if the star would fit. Zyr papa took a seat next to them and briefly tousled Aaron’s hair, which zy obligingly protested, before resting his arm on the back of the sofa behind zyr.

“Good. We’re working on shape recognition, hand-eye coordination, and developing the concepts of object permanence and cause-and-effect,” Aaron automatically informed him as if zy were back in Family Planning and Child Rearing 340 in school. Zy gave Logan a sheepish grin. “We’re also having fun cuddling and sorting shapes, so there’s that.”

“I see,” Logan said with a crooked smile he only ever gave Aaron. “Is that something you can help him with and talk to me too?”

“Sure. He’s like, the only baby ever who never tries to jam the pieces in or yell and throw them when he gets frustrated.”

Really, if Darius tried a piece and it didn’t work, he’d check back with Aaron. When zy told him it was okay and encouraged him, he’d try again. Adventurous was not a word zy thought would apply to Darius for a very long time, if ever. Then again, adventurous didn’t exactly apply to Aaron either. Zy was pretty sure any desire for adventure had been beaten out of zyr. Zy _totally_ got Darius’ desire to feel safe all the time.

“You know, I’m pretty sure you never went through the yelling and throwing things phase. You just wanted to know why things worked or didn’t work, and you accepted it when I explained. You _did_ try to put everything in your mouth. Except pickles,” Logan reminisced with a laugh. “I remember feeding you one of those round, hamburger pickles once, one of those ultra-zesty dills, probably. I didn’t think it through very well beforehand. You must’ve been two or three, and you spit it out and gave me this look like I’d betrayed you, kicked a puppy, and spit on the American flag. But then you took _another_ slice and ate it with your eyes squeezed shut, and your face all contorted the whole time. It was like you were going to eat it just to punish it for being so sour.”

Aaron made a face, scrunching zyr nose even as zy laughed. “No wonder I think pickles are totally gross!”

Logan shook his head, smiling at the fond memory. “Such a stubborn little thing, too. I couldn’t even put pickles in the shopping cart without you getting mad about it and yelling ‘no, no! bad! icky go bye-bye!’ until I put the jar back. Dills, sweet, or spicy, nothing green and pickle-shaped was allowed if you could see it.

“It took forever before you’d allow zucchini from the produce section into the cart without my having to hide it _extremely_ well. They were too close to the size of pickle, I guess. I think you were four, maybe five by the time you decided it was okay if I ate pickles while you were in the room.”

That was a story Aaron had never heard before. Zy laughed in such delight that Darius gave up on the star and turned so he could watch zyr, his eyes wide with wonder.

“And yet you like dill pickle chips now. Explain that to me, tiger.”

Aaron grinned because it was the truth. Dill pickle or salt and vinegar Pringles were the _best_. “They don’t taste like pickles, not really.”

“Pickles?” Tony parroted as zy wandered into the living room and lowered zyrself into zyr favorite, extra-wide recliner. (The one Ronon called the big-ass chair when he thought Aaron wasn’t listening.) Zy made a face. “Man, I just got a crazy urge to eat pickles dipped in dirt. I was hoping I wouldn’t get that stereotypical, weird craving phase.”

Logan stared at Tony incredulously. “This from the kysra who puts that damned—sorry, darned sriracha mayo on _everything_?!”

“Not everything!”

“Uh, yeah you do,” Aaron argued. “Toast, beans, salad, fries, meat, vegetables, everything! I could’ve sworn you mixed it in your oatmeal the other morning.” Under zyr breath, zy sing-songed, “That’s another dollar for the swear jar, Papa!”

Tony very maturely stuck out zyr tongue at Aaron, making zyr grin. “That was strawberry instant oatmeal, Wolfe pup. How much have you made with the swear jar now?”

“Enough that I’ve been bargaining minutes in a jumper instead sometimes,” Logan admitted, chagrined. “I thought I avoided the Marine potty mouth, but it turns out that I have a few favorites that I can’t seem to shake.”

“Good for you, Aaron!” Tony crowed with a long-distance high-five that Aaron laughed and mirrored. “Maybe if you have the gene like Logan, you can get him to bargain flight lessons instead of just flight time.”

“Oh, you just wait! I hereby add Tony and Ronon to the Swear Jar conditions!” Logan proclaimed with a mock-official sweeping gesture. “Go ahead, tiger. Make them pay for their cussing; they’ve got you, Darius, and Baby Dex they need to be watching their tongues for.”

Putting one of the numerous throw pillows that had magically appeared one day behind zyr back, Tony pointed out, “You realize that won’t keep zyr from getting those flight lessons, right? If anything, zy’ll have them sooner.”

“Better flight lessons than you two corrupting my baby tiger.”

“Hey, I’m not the baby—Darius is!”

Darius twisted around and eyed zyr in concern that time.

“You’re fine, Dari-turtle,” zy assured him. “Here, try the heart. I think that’ll be easier. The star probably has too many weird edges for you right now.”

Darius looked at the heart then at Aaron before finally checking with Tony, who encouraged, “It’s okay, Darius, go ahead. That piece is pretty, right? Can you see where it fits?”

Darius gamely took the heart and went to work trying to fit it into the lid of the sorting box.

“So, did you talk to Aaron about it yet?” Tony asked.

“We got distracted by pickles,” Logan admitted. Studying Aaron, he said, “We wanted to talk to you about an emergency plan for when you’re not in the tower.”

“Oh.”

That was really all zy could say to that. Aaron knew the Wraith were out there, of course. Tony, Ronon, and zyr Papa had all talked to zyr about what was in Pegasus and why it was so dangerous away from Atlantis’ shields. Not that Aaron had any desire to leave her, not now that zy had her in zyr mind all the time. She felt like all the good things zy’d always wished zyr mother had been. Even now, she was sending a feeling of warmth and love right into zyr soul.

That’s what it felt like at least.

“Um, okay?”

“We’ve already had a couple practice drills, but you’ve been in the tower for all of them. There will come a time when you’re not, and Tony and I were talking about how we need to prepare you for that eventuality.”

“Not to mention real emergencies,” Tony pointed out.

“Yes. They do happen, and not just when the Wraith come. Sometimes the scientists do stupid things that end up blowing up buildings or worse.”

//Not since I have fully awakened,// Atlantis huffed.

“That’s true,” Logan conceded. “However, we need to make sure that you’re prepared anyway. I’d rather you know what to do and never need to do it rather than not know what to do in a freak accident.”

“So are there battle stations or something, like in the movies?”

Tony smiled. “Something like that. You’ll definitely have a critical job.”

Aaron cocked zyr head, torn between curiosity and skepticism. “Really? What’s that?”

“Well, it’s more likely than not that you’ll be with Darius, the mini Dex Tony’s still baking, or both, your main job will be getting them and yourself back to the tower, which Atlantis may or may not lock down, depending on the situation.”

“What?” Aaron squawked. “No! Not without you!”

Darius gave an alarmed little gasp and dropped the plastic heart that he hadn’t managed to get into the shape sorter. Tony shifted toward the front of zyr chair and held out zyr hands. “Come here, Darius. Come cuddle with Dada for a little bit, okay?”

Aaron was lucky to get the shape sorter out of the way so zy could help Darius off the sofa before he bolted as fast as his little toddler legs would carry him toward Tony, who gathered him up.

“Throw me his Nemo blanky? I should’ve gotten that turtle character from the movie—Squirt, wasn’t it? He likes being a turtle more than a fish, I think.”

“Sorry.” Aaron balled up the Nemo blanket and tossed it to Tony, who caught it easily. Zy got Darius settled in zyr lap with his blanky draped around him to hide him and make him feel safe. Then zy made an opening so zy could wiggling zyr fingers to get him to try to grab them.

It was a game Aaron had played with babies before, but they were usually a lot younger than Darius was. By the time they were his age, they really weren’t interested in inspecting their parents’ hands anymore. Darius, however, was extremely interested in hands. One surefire way to get him to coo was for Aaron to wiggle zyr fingers, wait until Darius had grabbed one, then move zyr hand so zy could run a different finger on the same hand super light over Darius’ cheek.

“You’re fine, tiger. It was our fault for not thinking ahead,” Logan told zyr calmly, his arm coming around zyr shoulders and drawing zyr against his side. “I understand you’re not thrilled about it, but you have to understand that if the city is under attack, or if there is some other emergency, you don’t have the training or the skills we need to have fighting; however, you _do_ have absolutely vital skills that we need you to use to calm and take care of the little ones.”

“But I want to help you!”

“And you will be,” Tony retorted with no hint of zyr usual flippancy or humor. “It really is a huge, important task that we’re asking you to take on, Aaron. We’re not just trying to get you out of the way or whatever it is you’ve got in your head right now. Do you think your papa, Ronon, or I will be able to do our jobs if we don’t know that our children are safe?”

Logan was nodding. “Tony’s right. I’d be a mess if I couldn’t be sure you were safe. You have no idea how hard being away from you all the time has been, especially the last several months when I _knew_ you weren’t okay, but I wasn’t in the same galaxy and couldn’t do anything about it. I have to know you’re safe, Aaron, and I’m sure Tony and Ronon feel the same about their kids.”

Aaron scoffed, “You don’t think I care if you’re alright? Sure, I’ll just sit here and read stories to the kids. Right. Like I’ll be able to think about that if I’m worried that you’re being hurt or _worse_!”

Zyr papa turned so he could hug zyr and rub zyr back, a lot like Tony was doing with Darius. “I understand that, but we’ll all have jobs during emergencies. Part of mine is seeing to the safety of the entire city. I’m the Chief of Security. That means I have to be ready to coordinate our troops or able to pick up a P90 or any other weapon and defend everyone here, not just my own kyta, even if that’s all I’ll really want to do.

“If we’re really under attack, then your job will be getting yourself and the children to the tower if Atlantis isn’t able to divide her focus enough to beam you all here. You’re not a trained soldier, but you are trained to care for children. More than that, you’re fantastic at it, and they instinctively trust you. Keeping them calm when you’re scared too is going to be a challenge, but I think you can handle it.”

“It’s because I’m kysra, right?” Aaron sniffed, refusing to cry, which was all zy wanted to do when zy thought about something bad happening to zyr papa.

“That’s part of it. I’ve strongly encouraged Woolsey and Jae to be prepared to evacuate to Dex tower in an emergency. Atlantis is still working on getting them moved to an apartment in the tower, but Woolsey isn’t having it yet.”

Zy went silent for a beat as something else occurred to zyr. “What if they do come here? Do I have to do what they tell me?”

“They’ll probably go to another floor, but if they come here, then you’re in charge,” Logan told zyr firmly. “This is your home, and you decide what happens.”

“Absolutely,” Tony agreed. “You can take what they have to say into consideration, but you’re smart, and you have a good head on your shoulders. I wouldn’t trust you with my children if you didn’t.”

“I could learn to fight. I could be a soldier,” Aaron stubbornly persisted, even as zy clung to zyr papa.

“You could, and you will,” he agreed. “You’ll be in charge of the little ones, Aaron. That means you’ll need to be able to protect and defend them and yourself, which is the other thing I wanted to talk to you about: you need to learn some self-defense and how to handle a zat—a hand-held energy weapon. I’m pushing to get the IOA to approve a mandate that everyone over a certain age has to have both self-defense lessons and learn how to shoot a weapon of some sort if they want to stay in the city; I can’t ask that they make an exception for you. Besides, it’s just a good thing for you to know.”

“Oh.” That wasn’t something that had occurred to zyr. Zy’d just thought they were trying to get zyr out of the way like a little kid or a baby magical unicorn, like Tony sometimes joked that Aaron was because zy was the adult magical unicorn. (Aaron thought if they were going to be magical horses, they should at least be magical pegasi since they were in the Pegasus galaxy, but the unicorn joke had started a long time before zy’d gotten there. Zy was probably stuck with baby unicorn for now. Luckily, Tony called zyr Wolfe pup or puppy most of the time.)

“Yeah, oh.”

“You’re going to teach me?”

Logan shook his head. “No, I didn’t think that would be a good idea.”

“What? Why?”

“Because he’s your papa,” Tony answered for him. “He’ll either be too hard on you or not strict enough. We’re _strongly_ encouraging everyone to take self-defense classes, and we’ve kind of stolen a guy from one of the teams part time, since he’s got a record of being good with people who don’t have much experience or confidence. Ronon, your papa, and I trust him to be good to you.”

“Plus he owes you for getting his hot water turned back on months before McKay would’ve even considered it,” Logan said with an amused grin.

“But….” Aaron trailed off. Zy really didn’t want to be alone with somebody zy didn’t know, not even with Atlantis to keep zyr safe.

As if reading zyr mind, Tony said, “Don’t worry, puppy. You met Corporal Red Eagle that day Doc Xander kicked you out for the first part of my prenatal exam. He was okay, wasn’t he?”

Aaron tucked zyrself under zyr papa’s chin in the hopes that he wouldn’t see how red zyr face got when zy thought about Austin. Zy had even dreamed about him once. There hadn’t been anything bad or wrong in the dream. (Zy didn’t think so, anyway.) Zy couldn’t remember anything except Austin looking at zyr and smiling. Dream-Aaron had been thinking about how blue dream-Austin’s eyes were.

“Yeah, he was nice to me, and he said Darius was pretty. He kind of made it less scary when that Major came looking for me.”

“You mean Rutherford?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Rutherford is currently Red Eagle’s commanding officer, and he can seem intimidating, but he’d never hurt you. You can trust him if you ever need help and you can’t find me or one of the Dexes.”

“I’d rather find Austin.”

Tony jumped in with, “It’s good that you got a good vibe from Red Eagle. He’s pretty laid back, and he knows a thing or two about being discriminated against. I really think you’ll do fine with him.”

“Now, that’s not to say you have to stick with him, especially if he ever does anything that makes you uncomfortable,” zyr papa assured zyr. “If he ever says or does anything that upsets you, stop _immediately._ You can have Atlantis beam you away from him if you’re scared at all. You never have to feel trapped in a situation with someone who doesn’t feel right to you, got it?”

Aaron nodded but didn’t say anything. Zy had the horrifying thought that maybe zyr papa knew about Ray’s brother and the pictures. Zy hoped not; zy certainly hadn’t told _anyone_ , not even Atlantis. Zy just wanted to forget it had ever happened. Too bad zyr all-too-frequent nightmares wouldn’t let zyr.

“Good.” Logan squeezed zyr extra tight. “We’re okay, right? You understand why your job is what it is?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Aaron admitted. “I don’t want to lose you, but I get why I’m the one who needs to take care of Darius and baby Dex, whenever zy gets here.”

“I don’t want to lose you either, tiger. It’s my hope that with Atlantis awake and all the really smart people on our side, we’ll all be okay.”

//Do not fear, young one,// Atlantis murmured. //I will watch out for your papa, much as I do my kysra and my other Satedans. If I can help it, none of my children will be left without their loved ones.//

“Okay,” Aaron whispered. Zy’d do as Papa asked anyway, but Atlantis’ promise made it a lot easier. Papa would take care of zyr, and Atlantis would take care of them all.

*~*~*~*

_Casimirday, Bhaskara 39, First Year of the Returned  
(July 18, 2008)_

Bright and early two days later, Tony led Aaron into one of the less frequently used gyms on the East Pier, one hand on the small of zyr back. Tony had almost thought zy was going to have to dress Darius, zyrself, _and_ Aaron in order to get all three of them out the door. As it was, they were already a few minutes late.

Zy understood why Aaron was wary of going for training, but it really wasn’t anything they could put off. It had already been six Satedan weeks since Aaron had arrived. If they waited any longer, it was going to negatively impact Wolfe’s and Tony’s push to have physical defense training mandatory for anyone sixteen and older. Athosian children started far younger than that—right around the time they could stand and walk without falling over much—but Logan and Tony didn’t want to push their luck too much, or the IOA would never approve the mandate.

It wasn’t that Aaron’s needs or desires weren’t important, but the truth of the matter was that they had hundreds of untrained or minimally trained people in the city, and that was an unnecessary security risk for everyone… _including_ Aaron. Even so, neither Logan nor Tony would’ve asked anyone they didn’t completely trust to train Aaron. Since both Logan and Ronon had both mentioned having “talked” to Red Eagle, Tony was willing to bet zyr entire collection of Zegna suits that the Corporal had been threatened to within an inch of his life and would be exceedingly careful of how he worked with Aaron.

When Tony and Aaron waked through the gym entry, Red Eagle looked up from where he was lining up free weights and nodded politely.

“Investigator Dex, Kysra Wolfe.”

Tony did zyr best not to snort or roll zyr eyes.

“It’s just Tony and Aaron, as you already know.” Zy turned to Aaron and held out zyr hands. “I am gonna need my son back, though.”

Aaron backed up a step and gave Tony sad-puppy eyes to go with zyr pouty lower lip.

“Nah, zy’s good for now. Dr. Wheeler isn’t here yet.”

Tony did roll zyr eyes then. Red Eagle didn’t have a chance of saying no to anything Aaron asked if zyr puppy eyes were working on him already.

“Fine with me. I’m going to go set up my laptop in the window seat so I can start working.”

Tony had zyr laptop in its carrying case over zyr shoulder, plus a diaper bag for Darius. Zy prodded Aaron farther into the room and moved over to the window seat, where zy made a point of getting out zyr laptop. If that happened to be the perfect vantage point to watch every move Red Eagle made? Well, that was pure coincidence. 

While zyr primary task was making sure Aaron was okay, Tony truly did have work to do. Zy still needed to proofread the official reports on the two airmen zy had busted for theft the previous evening. It had been at the very end of the day, so zy’d written the reports but hadn’t submitted them to the system. Zy’d wanted one last read-through for the stupid sorts of typos zy’d been making lately. (Zy’d sent one email to the kitchen saying somebody needed to be put on pot toe peeling instead of potato peeling, and Poisson was still laughing about using the potato pots for foot baths.)

Tony had thought the two airmen were a little old for their rank, but it made more sense after seeing their records. Frankly, Tony wasn’t sure why the two hadn’t been given a BCD months ago. Zy assumed one of them had dirt on someone a lot higher up, or they were related to someone a lot higher up. The two were about to learn a harsh lesson in reality and the way things worked on Atlantis. They were going to spend so much time IST and doing scut work that they’d be lucky if they could think much less come up with ideas about stealing from other people.

Aaron was staying completely still, a little like a deer stunned by headlights, which meant Tony glanced up when zy saw movement.

Red Eagle casually walked toward Aaron, and crooned, “Hey there, sweet pea. Is your Aaron gonna let me say hello to you this time, or is zy gonna keep you all to zyrself again?”

Aaron’s head snapped up, and zy pouted. “I let you see him; I just didn’t let you hold him ‘cause he was sleeping!”

Tony bit zyr lip and stayed quiet. Zy had to give Red Eagle points for knowing how to push Aarons buttons. If zy was annoyed enough to give him pouty face #4, then zy wasn’t busy being scared. Poor Darius was watching Red Eagle with enough wariness for both of them.

“I know; just teasin’ you to see if you’d call me, what was it, Green Snake?”

To Tony’s vast entertainment, Aaron blushed from zyr forehead to the neck of zyr t-shirt. “Well, you made me mad.”

“So I did,” Red Eagle admitted with a sly grin. “You still mad?”

“No.”

“Good. Then you gonna introduce me to this cute little guy? I remember him, but I doubt he remembers me.”

“Oh, right.” Aaron rubbed Darius’ back and shifted until Red Eagle could see his face. “Dari-turtle, this is Austin. You were asleep the last time he was there. Can you say hello?”

Darius didn’t speak, which was normal, but he did tilt his head so he could watch Red Eagle with both violet eyes instead of hiding behind his blanket.

Red Eagle smiled, a softer expression than Tony had previously seen from the serious, taciturn young man. “There you are, sweet pea. Aww, you look sleepy. Awful early, ain’t it? I bet you wish you were back snuggling with your dada an’ takin’ a nap, huh?”

Darius blinked twice at Red Eagle, then sought out Tony. Once he spotted zyr, he squirmed and stretched out his arm toward zyr, leaning as far as he could toward zyr while opening and closing his hand.

“Dada? Me, Dada!”

“You just figured out his absolute favorite thing in the galaxy: cuddling with his dada.” Aaron huffed and crossed the gym mats to pour Darius into Tony’s arms. “Will you be able to work on your stuff if you’re holding Darius?”

Tony had quickly shifted zyr computer to the side when zy realized what Red Eagle was doing. “Sure, puppy. We’ll make it work.”

“Puppy?” Red Eagle repeated incredulously as Aaron fussed with getting the blanket tucked around Darius. “You let zyr call you puppy, but I got in trouble for callin’ y’all Little Wolfe?”

“Tony has nicknames for everybody,” Aaron said defensively, turning back to Red Eagle.

Zy tried to shrug but ended up blushing again—a blush that happened to coincide with the once-over zy gave the young Corporal. Red Eagle was dressed in regular sweats and a t-shirt with the sleeves torn off, which meant his muscular arms were on display. The t-shirt was tight enough that anyone paying attention could catch glimpses of well-defined chest and abdomen muscles. It seemed Aaron was interested enough to have noticed.

Tony very carefully kept zyr expression neutral, though zy was mentally chuckling. _Well_ , zy decided, _Red Eagle isn’t the worst person Aaron could get a crush on._

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Wheeler shouted breathlessly as he careened into the gym, his flailing limbs nearly taking out both Aaron and Red Eagle. “I meant to be on time, I did! I just got in late from exploring this really interesting coral reef on the far side of that little island south of us. You see, there’s this unique seahorse-type creature I’ve been trying to—”

“That’s alright,” Red Eagle interrupted. “We just got the little guy settled with his dada, so you’re right on time.”

“Thank goodness!” Wheeler sagged, still panting. Catching sight of Tony, he brightened and waved. “Oh, hey Tony!”

“Hey, Gerry,” Tony grinned.

The difference between Dr. Gerald Wheeler the first time they’d met and the current Gerald Wheeler was like night and day. He was still the least intimidating person in the city, which was why Tony had talked him into taking self-defense lessons with Aaron, but he was a heck of a lot happier.

“Ignore me. I’m only here to cuddle Darius and see if I can get some work done.”

“Okay! We’re all here, so let’s get started.” Red Eagle clapped his hands together and motioned his two students to the center of the gym floor and sat down cross-legged. Pointing to two spots in front of him, he ordered, “Park it on the mats for a second so I can give you my standard intro speech.”

Aaron bit zyr lower lip and exchanged a glance with Gerry, then they both did as they’d been told.

“Right. I’m Corporal Austin Red Eagle. You prefer to be called Aaron, right?”

Aaron nodded, already moving to chewing on the cuff of the oversized, long-sleeved t-shirt zy’d worn over zyr t-shirt despite Tony’s repeated assurance that zy wouldn’t need it.

“What about you?”

“Uh, if you’re calling Aaron by zyr first name, then Gerry,” He twitched his shoulders in a nervous shrug. “Honestly, as long as you don’t cuss at me, I don’t really care if it’s Gerry or Wheeler.”

“Alright, then we’ll all be on first names, so call me Austin. Keep things even. Next thing: my intro speech.” Austin cleared his throat and launched into it. “At some point in your life, whether it was in the past or is yet to happen, something or someone already has or someday will make y’all feel powerless. Whether it’s physical or sexual assault, getting captured and put in a Wraith cocoon, or getting a Goa’uld shoved in your head, feeling powerless sucks. I’m never gonna pretend otherwise.”

Tony noted that Aaron and Gerry both were hanging on Austin’s words, which only made sense considering their individual histories.

“Now, if y’all feel like I’m treating you like I think you’ve had something like that happen, it’s because I am. It’s my personal policy to assume everybody I teach has had some kind of trauma and has felt powerless or victimized at some point. I never ask because it’s not my business unless y’all want it to be, but a lot of my students tell me I was right at some point in our classes together.”

“Why?” Gerry asked. “Do you just teach people like us who are more likely to be victims?”

“I train anybody I’m told to, but when I started at the SGC, people who couldn’t handle regular military trainers seemed to do better with me.” Austin’s lips twisted in a bitter non-smile. “Staff Sgt. Winston is a great instructor, but he’s definitely more the traditional type. He doesn’t have the patience to work with somebody who has been through trauma or doesn’t respond well to yelling, barked orders, and blunt criticism.

“Now, there’s a place for that, and it gets him results; however, I never did like having somebody get in my face and yell, but I _can_ deal with it. I still prefer the way my father taught me when I was growing up, so that’s how I teach my classes.”

Austin licked his lips and smoothed his sweatpants over his thighs. “Besides. Screaming at somebody who’s been through something terrible is the worst thing you can do. Trust me, I know from experience. I had my own flinch response I had to work through after I got the crap kicked out of me.”

Aaron’s jaw dropped, and zyr eyes went wide. _“You?”_

Austin nodded grimly. “Yeah, me. Got beat so bad I almost died a few months before I came here. Atlantis had to do a hell of a lot of fixin’ before I joined SR-2.”

“But you’re big and strong—and an XY!”

“There’s always somebody out there bigger, stronger, smarter or willing to cheat,” Austin said matter-of-factly, making eye contact with both his students. “The reality is I can’t promise you will never be afraid or feel powerless. What I can promise is that if you work hard and learn what I have to teach, you’ll be stronger, faster, and have skills that will make it less likely you’ll be the one gettin’ the fuzzy end of the Tootsie Pop of life. Plus, you’ll know what you’re capable of so that you don’t always go from zero to full-blown panic mode.”

“Oh, that sounds good. I always panic,” Gerry admitted. “I get scared, and my brain stops.”

“Yep, that’s exactly what happens. It’s called your fight-flight-freeze response. We’re gonna work on that and teach your body to remember what to do—muscle memory—even when y’all are flippin’ your shit mentally.”

Aaron and Gerry both snickered. Tony looked up and cleared zyr throat to get Austin’s attention. Zy raised one eyebrow, looking pointedly at Darius, who was sleepy but not actually asleep, then back at Austin.

“Ah, hell. Sorry, Tony. Forgot about the tiny ears in the room. I’ll do better.”

Tony gave him a faint smile and nod, then went back to working on zyr laptop. Zy was close to finished with the first report already and feeling good about zyr progress.

“Moving on. I’m gonna teach y’all how to get stronger and faster, like I said, but I’m also gonna teach ya moves to defend yourselves from specific kinds of attacks. That means I’ll be the one ‘attacking’ so you can practice those moves. I always assume my students have been in bad situations before and might have a bad reaction. Since you’ll be yelling ‘no’ or ‘stop’ as part of your practice, we need another word that means everything stops instantly, and everybody gets out of your space. Lots of trainers use red like a red stoplight or stop sign.”

“Oh, a safeword! I’ve heard of that but not for self-defense classes,” Gerry interrupted.

Tony snorted a laugh, but Aaron looked confused. Austin just ignored them and kept going.

“Sayin’ red doesn’t work because my last name is Red Eagle. I don’t wanna develop a freeze response to hearing my own name, which is why I use blue in my classes. If either one of you needs whatever’s happening to stop immediately, you say ‘blue.’ The only rule is you can’t use it for joking around. You’re tired and need to rest? Just say so. Yeah, I’ll push y’all, but not like you’re in basic training. You tell me if you need a break. But if you’re gettin’ where you can’t breathe or have that tight feeling in your chest that means you’re close to flippin’ out, call ‘blue.’”

“We stop and then start again later?” Aaron clarified hesitantly.

Austin shrugged one shoulder. “Depends on what you need. Might be fine after a few minutes; might be you need longer. There are people who like making other people feel ashamed and powerless, but I’m not one of ‘em. If you call ‘blue,’ you get to say if and when you try again. I’ll never mock you or let anyone else do it either.” Austin studied them in turn. “You both cool with that?”

Aaron and Gerry nodded.

“Okay.” Austin hopped to his feet and motioned for the other two to follow him. “Today we’re just gonna get a baseline for all y’all. We need to see how fast and strong you are right now so we can set small goals to help ya progress toward overall goals, which we’ll need to figure out too. We can do the goal setting next time, though. Let’s just figure out where y’all are physically for today. Good?”

At his students’ hesitant nods, Austin clicked his tongue and watched them. “No, seriously. You guys okay with this plan? If not, I gotta know so I can change it.”

“Oh, um…. Yes, that’s fine,” Gerry answered.

Aaron was more hesitant, but zy managed to voice agreement as well.

“Okay, good. Let’s get started with a quick warm-up, then we’ll move to testing your four main fitness areas: strength, conditioning, power, and flexibility. Let’s see what’cha got!”

At the end of the time they’d blocked out, Tony was impressed and already trying to figure out a way to lure Corporal Red Eagle away from SR-2 in order to take on a training MOS full-time. He’d managed to get two complete novices through initial testing that had included everything from lifting weights and running to broad jumps, lunges, squats, and stretches. Austin was very blunt with them, but he’d never once yelled. Mostly, he’d used a combination of coaxing, praise, along with humor and gentle teasing. It reminded Tony a lot of the way zy would’ve dealt with the two if zy’d been the one in charge, though zy had to admit that zy thought zy would eventually lose patience with such novice, skittish students.

Presently, Aaron and Gerry were both sprawled flat out on the mats, trying to catch their breath. Austin was standing over them with his hands on his hips, but neither seemed to care—a good indication that they were either starting to trust him, or they were too tired to care that they were vulnerable to attack with how they were lying.

Shaking his head, Austin heaved a long sigh and wandered over to the wall and pressed a spot that caused part of the wall to retract. The opening revealed neat stacks of clean, white towels. Grabbing two, he walked back to stand between Aaron and Gerry’s torsos and dangled the towels over them. When neither reached up to take them, he released them in puddles of terrycloth on Aaron and Gerry’s foreheads.

Aaron managed to fling zyr arm up push it off zyr face so zy could pout up at Austin, who smirked back. Gerry didn’t even get that far and just turned his head to the side so he could keep panting.

“Alright, you guys did better than I thought you would, so there’s that on the positive side. You both have a long way to go to put on some muscle and get your brains and your limbs talkin’ to each other, but you’re not hopeless. Now hop up, and I’ll take you through a proper cool-down.”

Gerry grunted. Aaron moaned pitifully, and Tony gave in to the urge to chuckle at them.

Frankly, zy’d thought Austin had been generous with his praise. Aaron’s high school gym classes needed serious overhauls if zyr level of fitness was typical of what they produced. Tony was willing to bet that Aaron’s ability to lift anything of much mass came from hauling around babies and toddlers at the daycare where zy’d worked, not any specific strength training regimen. As for Gerry, he was in about the same shape, or worse, which made Tony even happier that zy’d coerced him agreeing to train with Austin and Aaron.

“I know, I know. I’m evil, but at least I’m not gonna let y’all leave and have your muscles lock up on you. Up and at ‘em!”

From the glare Aaron shot Austin, Tony thought zyr little crush might have been killed already. It was probably better in the long run, and it wasn’t as if there weren’t more candidates all over the city. Stand somewhere in the central tower and toss a coin, and you were bound to hit an attractive young person.

It took Austin physically grabbing their hands and dragging his students into a sitting position, but he eventually got them through a brief cool-down, then handed them fresh water bottles and their towels and let them collapse again.

Austin looked up and met Tony’s gaze. “Well? You think I’m gonna be in trouble with Sgt. Major Wolfe or Ronon?”

Tony snorted. “Nope. I think I’m going to be in trouble with Rutherford, though. Fair warning right now, if Wolfe and I get the mandate pushed through about required physical training, I’m going to suggest you as the full-time trainer in charge of seeing that the civilians meet some kind of competency goal.”

Austin’s pleased expression melted into a frown. He took a swig of his own water, then stared at Tony and frowned some more.

“Other than helpin’ out with these two and lettin’ Ronon kick my butt around the gym and pool, I’m on SR-2,” he said finally.

Tony nodded and shifted the giant paperweight on zyr lap—otherwise known as a sleeping toddler—to a more comfortable position. Zy’d already put away the laptop after finishing and submitting zyr reports, which hadn’t taken long after the training session had started. Darius had only just fallen asleep, and Tony was hoping he’d stay that way for a while. Despite everything Atlantis had done to correct his physical problems, he was still recovering and needed a lot more sleep than even a normal toddler.

“Yeah, I know, kid.”

That earned Tony a scowl.

“Okay, I won’t call you kid,” Tony conceded, probably amused more than zy should’ve been. “Yes, you’re on SR-2 right now, and you do an excellent job in that role, from all reports. You’re one of very few people I’d trust on my six or on Ronon’s. However—and I’m not trying to disparage the SR teams, far from it!—you’re also a natural trainer, and that’s something the city needs desperately. I doubt that a quarter of our non-military, non-Athosian population could do any better than Aaron and Gerry.” Zy offered him a wry smile. “Earth doesn’t exactly place the same emphasis on physical fitness that Pegasus does, what with the lack of Wraith to run from.”

//Tony,// Atlantis murmured into zyr mind, //Austin Red Eagle will be exceedingly angry if you circumvent his wishes to recommend him for a job he has not chosen. I will not tell you his reasons, but he will never respond well to an order that rearranges his life without his input. You must allow him to choose and respect his decision.//

Tony bit back a wince. Yeah, okay. Zy could understand that just from zyr own life. Heck, last time zy’d gotten an order zy didn’t like, zy’d ended up in bed with Ronon and on zyr way to a different galaxy. Zy really didn’t want to send Red Eagle off the deep end. Between his expression and Atlantis’ words, it seemed like Tony was going about it all wrong.

“I can tell you’re not impressed, and that’s fine,” Tony said, allowing zyr chagrin into zyr expression before looking down at zyr son and rubbing his back. When zy looked back up, zy admitted, “I’m way ahead of myself anyway, and as much as I’d like to call dibs on you for training, I’d never do anything that got you shifted from your team without your consent. I got a little too enthusiastic because you’re one of very few people I’d trust to work with and not destroy some of our more inexperienced and out-of-shape people. You have a gift, but it’s up to you if you want to use it on any official level.”

Austin grunted and took another drink, but the fist he’d half-hidden behind his loose sweatpants at his thigh unclenched.

“Seriously, though, could I talk you into thinking about doing more training? Not necessarily full-time, but more with civilians who know they need it but don’t want to go to one of the more typical military trainers? The training mandate is still with the IOA, so the only people you’d get would be ones I or someone else could talk into it.”

“ _Just_ thinking.”

“Yeah, just thinking. I don’t even know if there are any civilians who are game for this kind of program, even if they need it more than they need their next scientific breakthrough.”

“If you suddenly get a bunch of trainees, _you ask me first_ ,” Austin ordered fiercely, pointing at Tony with his water bottle. “I ain’t leavin’ my team high and dry.”

“Absolutely. It’ll be me or Wolfe who comes to you about it. If you agree at that point, then we’ll arrange for a meeting with one or both of us, you, and Major Rutherford to talk about a trial period to see if it’s something you want to keep doing.”

Austin studied zyr silently through narrowed eyes before nodding once. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

“Awesome. So, you’re done with these two?”

“For today, but I expect ‘em both back here same time tomorrow.” Austin snorted when both Aaron and Gerry whimpered. “Gotta set goals and all that jazz, so it won’t be as bad as today.”

“I’m not reassured. Are you reassured?” Aaron whispered to Gerry.

His head lolled to the side so he could see zyr. “That I made a good choice never to go into the military? Yeah, I’m reassured. I’m _very_ reassured.”

Tony exchanged an amused grin with Austin…. Well, Tony grinned. Austin rolled his eyes, but Tony chose to interpret it as an _amused_ eye roll.

Tony managed to get zyr laptop and diaper bag straps over one forearm and moved to the edge of the window seat so zy could stand. With a rapidly growing Bump and a passed-out toddler in zyr arms, it was more challenging than it used to be.

“Atlantis? Would you mind beaming us all to our own homes? Please put the stinky ones in their respective showers—please make sure they don’t drown—and me in my bedroom.” Tony continued mid-yawn, “I think it’s time for a mid-morning nap with my babies before I have to go to work my shift.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

_Gaussday, BellBurnell 6, First Year of the Returned  
(July 25, 2008)_

Ronon finished securing his remaining weapons—his particle magnum, an Earther handgun called a Glock, and his maximum twenty-three blades of varying shapes and sizes—on his person. Sheppard had been right that the tac vest was good for hiding more weapons than just regular clothes. Ronon would never be a fan of the rest of the uniform, but at least the vest was useful, and the newest jackets were leather.

“All set?” Tony asked quietly.

Zy had come to the locker room with the team, but zy wasn’t going with them this time. Tony hadn’t been happy about his desire to face what former Sateda had become without zyr, but Ronon hadn’t been willing to risk zyr on this first trip back to his birth planet. They still didn’t know what kind of monitoring the Wraith were doing.

Plus, Tony had been feeling nauseated again, and zy was dealing with soreness in zyr chest muscles plus premature lactation. Much to his confusion, Tony seemed to be embarrassed about the changes to zyr body. It had to be an Earther thing. Pegasus humans would only see it as further evidence Tony’s body was beautifully designed and would support their kyta after the birth. There was no such thing as the so-called baby formula Tony had bought back on Earth in the Pegasus galaxy. Babies who didn’t receive their nourishment from their bearer but were given animal milk instead died more often than not. That Darius had survived so many months after his mother had been culled—an oddity in itself—was nothing short of a miracle the Old Ones must’ve had a hand in.

Ronon hated to miss a doctor visit, but at least seeing Doc X would give Tony something to do to keep zyr mind off Ronon’s absence. Maybe Doc X would understand why Tony was embarrassed and be able to do something to reassure zyr where Ronon hadn’t. He had to accept that, kysra or not, there were some things Tony was still very much an Earther about.

“Yep. Good to go. Make sure you tell Doc everything when you see him.”

Tony huffed and rolled zyr eyes at Ronon’s admonition but allowed him to hug zyr. “You know perfectly well that Atlantis would tell him if I didn’t.”

“I know,” he murmured, splaying his palm over the unborn kyta. “And you be good for your dada. No more hitting your head on zyr stomach until zy gets sick!”

Ronon ignored his team’s amusement at his talking to his kyta. It was habit to talk to zyr after so many nights of rubbing oils into Tony’s abdomen and telling them both stories or just talking to them. He really couldn’t care less if people thought he was weird.

Angling for a kiss, Ronon reminding himself that no matter what he found on former Sateda, he was coming home to Tony and their family at the end of the day. It helped to calm the twisting mass of zhaba snakes in his gut. He hadn’t dreaded going to Earth as much as he was dreading this trip.

“Alright, Chewy. Let’s head to the jumper bay. You two can make out later. We won’t be gone _that_ long.”

“Oh, great! Now you’ve jinxed us, Sheppard,” McKay moaned.

Ronon kissed Tony’s amused smile once more.

“If you’re feeling okay, do you think you could make those peanut butter cookies for tonight?” he asked, pressing Tony’s palm against the side of his face, then turning his head to kiss zyr wrist.

“Of course, _caro_. I’ll get Aaron and Saela to help me. Just be careful and come home to me in one piece, no extra perforations.”

“Always come home to you,” Ronon murmured, leaning in for a final kiss before forcing himself to leave zyr and follow his team.

He was distracted enough that if Sheppard hadn’t made a noise like a fisher bird suddenly snapped between Starsong’s jaws, he would’ve run into him when he suddenly stopped in of the doorway that to the jumper bay.

“Rodneeeey!”

“What? What’s wrong with you?” McKay demanded, pushing past Sheppard. A sucked in shriek had Ronon bracing himself for the increasingly loud and shrill screeching that came afterward. _“Where_ are all the jumpers?! Atlantis! _Atlantis!”_

Ronon nudged Sheppard forward so he and Teyla could move into the bay too. Even he was stunned to see that where there should’ve been eighteen jumpers split between two levels—they’d expected the two that had been crashed on Win’nala to be gone—there were none. Well, that would explain why Sheppard was having a heart attack and McKay was losing his mind.

Maybe they wouldn’t be able to go to former Sateda. Ronon wasn’t sure if he should be happy about that or not.

He arched a brow at Teyla. She mirrored him and shook her head slightly.

Before anyone could panic further, Atlantis’ humanoid form appeared, looking especially sparkly with all her glowing necklaces and the shiny material of her silver and gold dress.

“Forgive me. I have been working on a new design for some time, so I did not think to warn you that I decided to recycle the puddle jumpers after your last mission.” She turned and started walking toward the space where their usual jumper normally sat. “I have finished with Jumper One, as you call it, my pilot.”

Automatically drawn toward her, they were all watching when the new jumper appeared directly behind her. Ronon didn’t know if Atlantis had beamed it in, or if it had been cloaked.

“Damn!”

“Wow!”

Ronon and Teyla exchanged a look at Sheppard and McKay’s simultaneous exclamations, though he could tell she was as impressed as he was.

“That’s different.”

“Understatement, Chewy,” Sheppard mumbled.

While the front and rear were still angled significantly, the new jumper didn’t look like a semi-flattened tin can anymore, as Tony called it. It was sleek, streamlined, and kind of shiny. The front almost reminded him of that Earther animal he’d seen called a dolphin. He thought the body might be slightly wider and longer as well, more like a compressed and angled egg than a can.

The top and forward viewscreen looked black from the outside. Ronon had to assume it wouldn’t be on the inside, but he could appreciate not allowing their enemies to see into their transport the way they used to be able to.

Atlantis proudly explained, “I have coated this model with a new material that will blur and take on the colors around it. It should provide some protection even when you are not cloaked.”

Sure enough, the jumper seemed to take on the exact shade of the area around it. It wasn’t a cloak, but it would make it a lot easier to blend in if they lost the cloak for whatever reason. That had happened a few times during the years Ronon had been going on missions, and they hadn’t used the jumpers all that much. They used them more now that there were more pilots who could fly them well enough to satisfy whatever criteria Sheppard had set.

“The thrusters have been integrated into this model, so there will never be a chance you will be stuck between gates as happened when you returned from the Wraith homeworld.”

“Oh, yeah, planet 666. Fun times,” Sheppard said absently, running a hand over the jumper’s smooth exterior.

“It only happened once!” Rodney immediately protested, as if he thought they were blaming him personally for the jumper failure.

Ronon eyebrows twitched as he wondered why the Wraith homeworld didn’t have the three-letter prefix before the numbers. Just when he thought he had a handle on how Earthers gave the planets their designations….

“It should never have happened at all. I cannot fathom what the Alterans were thinking to leave such an obvious flaw in their design,” Atlantis stated flatly. At her unspoken command, the cargo door at the back opened. “Come, see. I have improved the interior design as well.”

The four humans followed her to the rear of the vehicle, where Teyla was the first to notice a difference.

“The angle of the ramp appears steeper. Does the jumper have greater depth on the bottom, or is my perception faulty?”

“You are correct, Teyla. I decided that the original models were not fitted with sufficient weapons. This model stores one thousand drones. Please try not to use them all in one day, my pilot,” Atlantis replied, sending Sheppard a wry look.

John made a face. “It’s not my fault the Wraith don’t like me. And the Genii. And those cannibal people.”

Ronon had to agree with that. “Some beings just need killin.’”

Atlantis inclined her head. “I cannot dispute the Wraith and Bola Kai qualify as such beings. Now, please step inside.”

Ronon followed the others up the ramp into the aft section. It looked similar to the old jumper in that it had two padded benches the length of either side for additional passengers or cargo, but the nets and random containers were gone. In their place were built-in storage units above and below the seating. The seating itself had four restraints on each side that looked like the ones on the crew chairs. Tony had called them five-point harnesses. Those would’ve been nice to have had when they’d crashed on Win’nala.

“I consulted with Doc Xander so that I could partition space for a complete emergency medical kit containing everything from gauze to a smaller version of the skingun that will repair flesh wounds.” Noting that Rodney was already opening all the storage areas, Atlantis told him, “The third on your right has replacement crystals for everything. For those functions of vital importance, such as life support and shields, there are multiple replacements.”

“Fantastic!” McKay exclaimed. “Maybe now I won’t be stuck trying to make data storage crystals work in place of power cells, all the while being shot at by hostile enemies!”

“Aren’t all enemies hostile?” Sheppard asked rhetorically.

“All the ones you attract are.”

Atlantis’ lips twitched, and her eyes seemed to glow, but she didn’t add to Sheppard and McKay’s banter. Instead, she led them past the bulkhead divider, which still had a door that could close to seal off the cargo from the crew area. Ronon was glad for that, since they’d had more than one dangerous type of cargo they wouldn’t have wanted up front with them.

“As you can see, there are now four crew chairs instead of two. If Tony travels outside the city, zy will do so with your team, and it is not proper that one of the team be relegated to the cargo area,” she said. “Colonel Sheppard, I would like you to consider assigning all teams a medical expert of some sort. In reviewing the records of all your journeys, it seems to me that there have been many times a field medic would have saved your teams time and suffering. Therefore, the new jumpers will all be designed to accommodate a larger crew.”

“That’s an interesting point, Atlantis. I’ll be sure to discuss it with Colonel Carter when we get back.” Sheppard hesitated. “I assume we’re still going to former Sateda today. Jumper 1 mark two is ready to fly, right?”

Atlantis lifted one dark brow at him. “Of course. I would never send you away from my structure in an unsafe vessel. Even if I had not grown fond of the four of you, Tony’s anger would burn with the fury of ten thousand white dwarf stars at the moment of supernova, should I endanger you needlessly.”

Ronon snorted. People only thought he was the scary one in the Dex household. They’d never seen Tony during a hormone-amplified fit of rage. He was pretty sure Starsong had been permanently terrified away from trying to hunt the fisher birds—the ones around Dex tower, at least—after the time she’d terrified Darius by dive-bombing a bird out on the courtyard the same day Tony had finally managed to talk Darius into going out there in an attempt to prove to him that the birds weren’t anything to be scared of.

“Is Starsong still hiding from Tony?” Ronon whispered to Teyla.

Teyla smirked, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “When we spoke yesterday, Colonel Carter mentioned that Starsong has yet to catch any fisher birds since being reprimanded so… _vehemently_. She is torn between feeling pity for her companion and relief that she has temporarily won the battle, even if she was not the one to convince Starsong to give them up.”

“As you have noticed,” Atlantis was saying to Sheppard and McKay, who were already in the pilot and copilot seats, “the cockpit is more streamlined, and I have incorporated the technologies you usually require your computer to access, Rodney, along with a few other useful items. I believe you both will find this integrated model easier to operate.”

//Ronon, the new jumpers will respond to you and future Satedans, not just those with the Alteran gene. Eventually, I intend to change all interfaces to respond to the Satedan genome.//

He tilted his head to let her know he’d heard. He figured she’d told him in his head because she didn’t want the rest to know for whatever reason. Ronon could respect that, though he had to wonder how the Earthers would take the change.

“Huh, yeah. It’s more responsive,” Sheppard mumbled as he flipped through a dozen or more different displays on the HUD. “Hey, is this a _hyperdrive_?! It is!”

“Indeed it is,” Atlantis said, radiating smugness.

McKay was just as enthralled with whatever he was doing. The HUD appeared to split in half, and holographic images and schematics began appearing on McKay’s side, rotating and spitting out some kind of data at his mental command.

“A hyperdrive? That’s not possible with the power the jumpers have. You must’ve enhanced the— _oh!_ This isn’t a crystal; it’s way too large. I can feel the complexity, and….”

Atlantis rested on hand on Rodney’s shoulder, something about her expression and posture softening the way it always did when she spoke to Tony or Aaron, which puzzled Ronon just as much as ever. It was obvious she favored him, and not just for Tony’s sake. Ronon had begun to suspect Atlantis spoke with McKay a lot more frequently and might’ve even offered to make him a genetic Satedan. The way she looked at him and touched his shoulder was just one more piece of evidence, as Tony would say.

“You are correct, Rodney, it is not the previous power source.”

The entire viewscreen went blank, and a single image appeared in the center of the HUD. They all watched in fascination as the crystalline structure changed angles, and mathematical formulas appeared alongside chemical equations, filling the entire space. It was all beyond Ronon’s understanding, but McKay was staring at it with his mouth hanging open, and Sheppard was squinting like he was trying to read a language he knew basic vocabulary for but didn’t understand the grammar.

She repeated, “It is not a power cell crystal, but it is not quite a ZedPM either. It is a new form of liquid crystal uthillium41 fusion I have developed, which has 39.2% of the energy capacity of a ZedPM but is not so taxing for me to create.”

“That’s more than enough to power a hyperdrive!” McKay shouted. Ronon was pretty sure if his meraska’s brother got any more excited, he’d pee his pants.

“Yes, though I do not anticipate you will need such a thing during this mission.” She cocked her head and stared at the four humans in turn. “That said, I have noted that if a thing is surely not necessary for a mission, your team will inevitably require it. Thus, the hyperdrive is fully functional.”

“Hey!” Sheppard protested weakly, then thought better of it. “Yeah, okay. Anything else we should know? We need to get going if we want to be back on time. We don’t want to get Ronon in trouble with Tony for being late to supper.”

“I believe that is all.” Atlantis’ star-filled eyes met Ronon’s, and she smirked.

Ronon shrugged. They could think he was a blade to Tony’s rifle42 all they wanted. He preferred people underestimated him, sometimes even his friends and fellow warriors.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” Sheppard said gleefully, like a child with a new toy.

By the time the jumper shot through the gate and into the air around former Sateda, the levity was gone, and they were all serious. No matter what happened, it wasn’t going to be an easy mission, and they all knew it. Even McKay was silent except for giving readings from what he was seeing.

“Cloak engaged so fast I don’t think anyone could’ve seen us even if they were looking. You see anything, McKay?”

“No, there don’t seem to be any humanoid life signs at all. This new scanner would differentiate between species, and there aren’t any Wraith either. There are various animals, but they’re mostly outside the city itself. I’m not seeing anything in the atmosphere or in space that would indicate the presence of any spaceships, cloaked or not.”

“How about—”

Ronon shut out their conversation and stared at the remnants of his birth world through the viewscreen. He had seen it when the Wraith had implanted him with the second transmitter and hunted him, but he’d been so focused on survival and revenge that he hadn’t been able to take in the magnitude of destruction. What had once been a thriving city was a desolate wasteland of demolished buildings and shattered dreams.

It struck him once again that he was the only living person who had been born on former Sateda, and he’d be the last. Having Atlantis declare her present planet Sateda was bittersweet: it meant there was hope for the future, but it also meant he had to give up hope of ever returning to Sateda-that-had-been, and that hurt like salt in a healing wound. That the sun was out and shining so brightly over the planet added insult to injury. It seemed like the day should be cloudy and overcast, possibly raining or snowing, just to match the shocking intensity of the grief Ronon felt upon seeing his birth world so ravaged and dead.

“Ronon, buddy?” Sheppard glanced back at him. “No sign of the Wraith or any monitoring devices. Which way do you want us to go?”

Ronon sucked in a shuddery breath and forced it back out. He cleared his throat and shook his head to clear his mind.

“Uh…you see that building up on the right? The tall, red brick one with only one wall left? Head four city blocks to the west of that building, then six blocks north.”

Sheppard did something that brought up a 3-dimensional map of the city up on the HUD and highlighted the block Ronon had indicated.

“My mistake, five blocks north.”

The map automatically updated.

“That it?” Sheppard asked, quieter than normal.

Ronon grunted. He could feel Teyla watching him, but he couldn’t deal with the sympathy he knew he’d see in her eyes if he looked at her.

“We land there and go on-foot,” he told his team.

“Ronon…” Sheppard hesitated, then finally added, “there isn’t anything there. I can see there was a huge building, but it’s gone now.”

“There is. You just can’t see it.”

Sheppard shot McKay a glance, and the scientist started touching symbols on the new interface on his side of the cockpit. The building image quickly shifted as the sensors focused underground.

“He’s right. There’s something—possibly a bunker of some sort?” McKay said, manipulating the digital image to zoom out and show the entire underground cube and the tunnel system it was connected to. “I can’t get any readings inside it, so it must be made of some kind of compound that prevents the scanners from reading beyond it. We can’t leave without getting a sample to take back. It could be useful on Sateda—er—new Sateda.”

“You sure this is where we need to go?”

Ronon grunted again.

“Alright. Where’s the entrance?”

McKay answered for him, “Under the rubble. You’re going to have to use the drones to clear a path to it, Sheppard. Then land in that little alleyway behind those next two buildings over, see?”

McKay highlighted another spot on the map, and Sheppard nodded grimly.

“Yeah, that’ll give us some protection if somebody comes snooping. I’ll see what I can do.”

Ronon had to tune them out again and focus on his hands, clenched into fists on his knees. He was already having flashbacks to that cursed day years before when the Wraith had started bombing the city. If he watched the drones slam into what was left of the Institute of Advanced Science and Creativity building, he’d lose it completely.

Staring at his wedding band, Ronon wished Tony were with him but was glad zy was safe back home at the same time. He wondered if he was going to be so conflicted the whole mission. It left him feeling unstable in a way he hadn’t for a long time.

Fortunately, Sheppard and McKay were a good team, and McKay calculated exactly where to send the drones so Sheppard only had to fire two of them.

“Ronon—”

“Don’t,” Ronon snapped. “Sorry, just—just don’t, Teyla.”

“I understand,” she replied softly.

He clamped his jaw shut on the instinctive snarl. The truth was she didn’t understand. She _couldn’t_. She still had her people. Something had happened to a group of them who were missing and presumed dead, but she still had a few hundred Athosians left. Ronon was the _last_ Pegasus-born Satedan alive. There was no way Teyla could understand what that was like.

Sheppard landed the jumper, and Ronon forced himself to get his shit together so he could function.

“We’re gonna need those masks.”

McKay rotated his chair to face Ronon. “Why? You never did say.”

“Because people worked down there. They’d have sealed themselves in when the bombing started. There wasn’t anybody left to give the all-clear signal, so I don’t know if they ever came out.”

“Their bodies might still be…?” Sheppard asked.

Ronon shrugged and looked away. He refused to think of who might still be down there. Though better there than captured by the Wraith.

McKay grimaced but luckily didn’t say anything further, nor did Teyla or Sheppard.

“Take point, Ronon,” Sheppard instructed once they were standing outside the cloaked jumper. Ronon could sense it even though he couldn’t see it. That had never happened before, but it made sense with what Atlantis had said she’d done to make it respond to Satedans. “Everybody, look sharp. We can’t assume that just because they haven’t shown up yet, the Wraith aren’t still monitoring the planet.”

Grimly, Ronon led them toward the hidden lab entrance.

If he’d thought seeing Sateda from the air was horrible, then seeing it from the ground without the immediate threat of the Wraith to focus on was agonizing. Where the Satedan Institute of Advanced Science and Creativity had once stood as the largest and most beautiful building of the city, now lay ashes, shattered glass, bits of twisted metal, and chunks of concrete no larger than his fist. Even colors that had once been as bright and vibrant as his people were faded and lifeless.

Ronon wished he didn’t need to breathe. There was a bitter taste on the back of his tongue, which had something to do with the kinds of bombs the Wraith had dropped. Ronon had seen a hundred other destroyed civilizations during his lifetime, and he always knew right away which ones had been destroyed by the Wraith and which had succumbed to some other force. He was more grateful than ever that Sheppard had told that Jackson guy he couldn’t come with them no matter how much he’d wanted to see former Sateda. No doubt he’d have wanted to ask questions, and Ronon wasn’t up for any talking. Not today.

Originally, the entrance to the secret Research and Development sublevel (or Research and Discovery, depending on who you asked; there had always been dispute about what it should’ve been called) was located two stories below the basement level. The Wraith bombs and the jumper’s drones had eliminated everything in the way, so all Ronon and his team had to do was climb down the side of the bowl-shaped crater in the ground.

Once they got to the door, Ronon studied it for a few seconds before striking his palm against the five strategic points that would trigger the unlocking mechanism. When that didn’t do anything, he tried it again. It took one final sequence before something clicked, causing the thick, metal door to drop down a couple inches, then slide back in to the hidden recess.

“Any readings, McKay?”

McKay moved closer to the open door and held the LSD just inside. “No life signs; no indications of anything toxic. Uh, nothing biological,” he added with an apologetic side glance at Ronon.

“Alright. We probably don’t need to wear the masks initially, but that could change, so let’s keep them with us.”

Sheppard caught Ronon’s gaze and jerked his chin toward the entrance.

Ronon forced himself to breathe normally despite his pounding heart as he started down the steep incline that would lead to the labs.

There were no lights, of course, so they had to use the flashlights and the lights on their P90s to make their way into the pitch-black maze. The first room they came to was a massive office with twenty metal desks and twenty smaller desks along with the appropriate number of chairs.

“I’m surprised at how intact everything is,” Sheppard commented, touching the top of one of the desks.

“It’s been sealed air-tight,” McKay told him automatically as he split his focus between his machine and looking around the room.

Ronon knew that they were in the main office, which was where the researchers worked on their reports once their experiments had been conducted. That meant there were desks for all of them and their assistants.

“There might be plans for the energy rifles in here. They’ll either be in a desk or in one of the huge file cabinets against the wall to the right. There should be a doorway at the back of the room that leads to the generator. If there’s fuel, it’d be a lot easier to see what’s what.”

“Take Teyla. I’ll stay here and make sure McKay doesn’t touch anything,” Sheppard instructed.

Ronon glanced at Teyla, who gave him a nod and followed him to the generator room. The generator itself was in surprisingly good shape, and there was a full can of fuel. Since it had been more than a decade from the last time the generator had been used, Ronon found new filters and ground electrodes on a shelf in the same room and replaced the old ones before adding the fuel and attempting to start the generator.

It took several tries, and a lot of cursing, but it started eventually. It certainly reeked like everything was working right. After a few seconds, the overhead bulbs flickered like one of those bad horror movies some of the Marines watched before lighting up and staying that way.

Teyla asked, “Shall we return to the Colonel and Dr. McKay?”

“Yeah. Thanks for your help in here.”

“Of course. I only wish I could make this easier for you.”

“Can’t,” Ronon grunted and walked through the doorway. “Nobody can.”

Back in the main office, Sheppard and McKay were standing behind a desk and staring down at a single sheet of paper that looked like it had been treated with something to preserve it. Ronon was sure he already knew who’d written it. The gold chain and pendant he could see when he got closer only confirmed it.

Sheppard gestured to it and asked with studied casualness, “Apparently McKay’s Alteran is better than his Satedan. Can you read this?”

“Move so I can see.”

Ronon glanced at the signature and had to clear his throat before he could read the letter's contents aloud: 

> _Dear Reader,_
> 
> _We have no way of knowing who will find this letter. It’s possible no one will if the Wraith never leave or choose to turn Sateda into another of their strongholds. Presently, it appears they are determined to completely annihilate the Satedan people, not simply cull us as they have in the past. If our above-ground sensors are correct, then we few are the last remaining humans on the planet. We believe some of our people may have escaped through the Ring, but we cannot be sure. Our grief knows no bounds at the thought of the hundreds of thousands of lives the Wraith have ended in the last week._
> 
> _The Old Ones have not heard us. Of us all, I was most certain they would. Perhaps being kysra affected my world view more than I realized. Then again, perhaps it is just who I am. My brother often lamented that I am so “inexplicably optimistic, especially for someone who designs weapons of war.” Unfortunately, I find it difficult to be optimistic these last several days after being trapped within our laboratory and realizing my extensive family is either dead or culled. I pray the former be true rather than the latter, as I no longer hold out hope or even wish for divine rescue any longer. I fear we must presume this is the time the Old Ones predicted long ago, and they have indeed turned their backs to Sateda._
> 
> _Understanding there will be no rescue, those of us who remain have been forced to decide what we will do. While none of us have ever been warriors the way my brother was, neither are we cowards. Rather than end our own lives in this locked bunker, it is our unanimous decision that we will secure our experiments and designs, then shut down this facility. Once we have made certain our experiments will be safe for whomever returns, we shall take our latest energy weapon prototypes and attempt to fight our way to the Ring. It is possible one or more of us will make it through to another world._
> 
> _(There, you see, dear brother? I am yet optimistic!)_
> 
> _If we succeed, then we shall one day return for our research. If we perish in the attempt, then our souls have gone to the Old Ones, and it is up to the individuals reading this to take our research and use it to fight against the Wraith._
> 
> _I leave my pendant here as well. It is a treasured gift from my parents, and I will not have it fall into the Wraith’s clutches no matter what happens to me. If at all possible, please see that it is given to a Satedan if there truly are any who escaped our world’s genocide._
> 
> _Old Ones, grant us the honor and courage of true Satedans._
> 
> _Zeran Dex,  
>  Offensive Weapons Engineer_

Ronon swallowed down his grief yet again and set the letter on Zeran’s desk. He picked up zyr pendant in trembling fingers.

Teyla was the one to ask, “Zeran Dex…is…was…?”

“My ayah,” Ronon rasped. “We were only two years apart, the only ones of our family who came to live in the city. We got really close before the Wraith came. Zeran brought me here with zyr before; that’s how I knew how to get in and where the generator was.”

“You’re the one who said zy was overly optimistic?"

“Yeah.” Ronon cleared his throat and wiped his damp cheeks with the back of his hand. Quickly putting Zeran’s necklace into a pocket in his shirt that zipped closed, he gruffly said, “This isn’t helping find those plans. We need to get done and get out of here. Let’s just take everything in the desks and those cabinets and sort it later. McKay, you brought that grab thing, right?”

“Wha—oh! Right. Yes, I have the grab-n-go. Just put what you want in a central location, and I’ll add it to the device.”

The team worked quickly and emptied all the desk files onto one desk, then had McKay scan it or whatever it was that happened to get stuff from the real world into the storage thing. He took all the file cabinets entirely, so they didn’t have to unload them.

Ronon worked through loading up the office and then the various labs while feeling almost numb. It was almost like he’d gone back in time and was trying to survive and _not_ think about his grief and rage. He knew he’d snapped and snarled at everyone at least once, but they never said anything to him about it. Ronon figured Sheppard would try to make him talk to that Picard guy once they got back to the city. He’d have to fight that battle later. He was fine with taking Darius and getting advice on how to help him, but he wasn’t okay with talking about his own life, not when it felt like he’d just reopened a barely-clotted wound on his soul.

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” Sheppard said when McKay had beamed the last of the prototypes and experimental weapons in the grab-n-go.

They worked their way back to the surface, and Ronon shut the door despite the entire R&D sublevel being empty. There was no reason to advertise the fact that someone had been back to Sateda any more than they already had. Ronon could hardly believe they’d spent so long down there without the Wraith showing up as it was.

Back in the jumper, they all were grateful to have a few minutes to drink water and have something to eat. Sheppard and McKay talked about the features Atlantis had added to the jumper, but Ronon and Teyla were quiet. Ronon found himself repeatedly checking his pocket for Zeran’s necklace, but forced himself to stop when he noticed Teyla watching him sadly.

“Next place is a warehouse,” Ronon said after they’d all finished eating. “Should be energy rifles, hopefully other weapons and armor.”

“How large is the warehouse?” McKay asked eagerly. “If it’s large enough the jumper can fit inside, we won’t have to set foot outside the hatch, since Atlantis installed a jumbo-sized grab-n-go in the jumper itself.”

“I don’t remember how big, just that it was big and a pain in the ass to haul weapons to,” Ronon admitted.

“No problem,” Sheppard said easily. “Tell me how to get there.”

“Far north edge of the city, on the other side of the river in the warehouse district. Unless they’ve been destroyed, there should be a line of ten military warehouses. They’ll be the ones made out of reinforced concrete. The others don’t have walls that thick, or they’re only made of metal.”

“Got it.” Sheppard said, taking the jumper into the air and heading north. After several minutes, the HUD again displayed an image of the city with one section highlighted. “This what you mean?”

Ronon squinted at the image. “Yeah, think so. The bridge across the river is gone—see where it was? Directly on the other side are the warehouses. You want the third one on the left.”

“Those are definitely large enough for the jumper to fit into if we can open a loading door of some kind,” McKay observed. “Wait, it looks like there are big doors all along both sides.”

“I assume they loaded from the road and from the river,” Sheppard said.

Ronon grunted an affirmative and checked Zeran’s necklace again.

Sheppard guided the jumper to the ground in front of the third warehouse.

“The doors look plenty big, but we’re going to have to get them open first,” he said.

Teyla glanced at Ronon, then offered, “Ronon and I will go.”

It took both of them, plus finding a long, steel bar they could use to break off the locks, then pry the rusted-shut door open.

“Do you wish to go back to the jumper, or should we open any of the other warehouses?”

Ronon wiped his brow with his sleeve and looked around, squinting a bit in the bright sunlight.

“The military warehouses are all made of thick concrete and steel, but there are a lot out here that aren’t. Most of the stuff in those is probably rotting or has gone bad already.”

“Then perhaps we should open all the military warehouses now. If there is time, and Dr. McKay says there is space, then we can see if anything in the other buildings is salvageable.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Teyla touched her comm and informed Sheppard and McKay, “Ronon and I are going to open the other military warehouses.”

“Roger that. We’re going to stay cloaked, but we’ll keep an ear out for you. Make sure you tell us when you move so we know where to go if there’s a problem.”

“Understood.”

Ronon strode toward warehouse two with Teyla beside him. He was glad she didn’t try to make him talk or talk at him. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw his first Satedan teammates laughing and cursing with him as they loaded container after container into the warehouses. It was grunt work, something often assigned when Initiates had been caught out past curfew or had come back to the barracks drunk.

Ronon had spent a lot of time loading and reorganizing warehouses the year he’d turned sixteen, much to Zeran’s exasperation. He never knew how zy always found out, just that zy did. And then zy told their parents, which earned him scolding—or worse, _disappointed_ —letters from home.

The locks on the ninth warehouse were especially rusted and refused to move no matter what Ronon and Teyla did. It made sense. Because of the bend in the river, the ninth warehouse was actually the closest to the water, and corrosion had set in further.

Ronon glared at the locked door. Growling under his breath, he stomped through the gap between the military warehouses and the next row, sneering ferally when he found a length of pipe the size of his forearm and twice as long.

“I will go to the final warehouse and see if I am able to do anything there,” Teyla finally said when he returned, frustration clear in her voice. “I see no point in— _Ronon!_ ”

Ronon raised the pipe over his head and ran at the door, roaring Satedan curses as he hammered on it. Over and over he shouted his rage and swung the pipe, reveling in the impact that traveled up his arms to make his shoulders ache.

The pain was good; he _wanted_ it. He wanted to hurt and scream and curse. He wanted to destroy something; he wanted to see his own pain physically scored into the buildings around him. All the emotions he’d been pushing down and pushing away came roaring to the fore, and he lost himself in his fury, grief, and pain.

It wasn’t until the lock broke off entirely and the pipe was wrenched from his bloody hands that he heard people screaming at him.

“—stun your stupid ass!” someone was ranting furiously.

Ronon bared his teeth and lifted clenched fists before the red haze began to fade from his vision. The jumper was on the ground a few yards away, and Teyla and McKay were beside it, their faces tense and pale. Teyla was armed with her bantos, and McKay had a Glock.

“Sheppard?” Ronon wavered, stumbled. He landed hard against the warehouse and shook his head as he panted, trying to clear the strange fog that seemed to have settled into his mind.

Sheppard was stepping slowly toward him, both empty hands raised, palms toward Ronon.

“Yeah, buddy, it’s me.” He glanced down and kicked the pipe away. “You think you’re done trying to scare the crap out of the rest of us?”

Ronon’s legs failed him. He tried to grab the wall and only succeeded in leaving a trail of blood as his clothing and torn flesh caught on the rough surface. He landed in a heap on the ground and let his head fall back, bouncing painfully against the concrete.

“I don’t—I didn’t mean to—I—”

Sheppard went to one knee beside him. “I know.”

Ronon stared into Sheppard’s steady gaze. There was something there that said he really _did_ know.

After a quick glance behind him at Teyla and McKay, Sheppard quietly offered, “Reflective surfaces. Hate ‘em, especially when I’m really tired, or when I get a glimpse out of the corner of my eye. I’m blue, or I have those freaky bug eyes again.”

“Not the Wraith?”

“I get nightmares about them sometimes, but I can fight those bastards, even if I lose eventually and end up dead. Can’t fight something taking over my body from the inside out.” He shrugged one shoulder and offered Ronon a bitter smile. “PTSD: the trauma that keeps on giving.”

“Sucks,” Ronon agreed. “Still feel the tracker. Used to ask Beckett to check for it sometimes.”

He’d asked Keller once, and she’d gotten such a look of pity on her face that he’d never willingly gone back to her. Good thing, as it turned out.

Sheppard huffed, his smile turning sly. “Ask Tony to play doctor for you. Zy’ll do it, and zy’ll probably make it fun in ways I don’t want to know about. Ever.”

Ronon rolled his eyes, but he appreciated what Sheppard was doing. He had to remember he had a meraska and a family to go home to. This planet wasn’t home, not anymore.

“C’mon,” Sheppard said, rising to his feet and holding out one hand. “Let’s get out of here before McKay thinks we’re flirting and tells Tony about it.”

Ronon groaned when Sheppard hauled him to his feet. He was dreading seeing Doc X when they got back. He just knew he’d torn something in his shoulder, not to mention all the damage he’d done to his hands and arms.

“McKay’s loyal, I’ll give him that.”

“Yeah, it’s one of his best qualities. Makes the stuff that drives you crazy worth it.”

Maybe it was because Ronon was feeling so raw, or maybe it was because Sheppard had revealed more of himself than he’d done before, but Ronon caught something in his leader’s gaze when he looked back to McKay and gave him a crooked smile and a thumbs-up.

Ronon decided then and there that McKay was going to have to find somebody to have sex with on a regular basis. Then he and Sheppard could be together. As an added bonus, McKay wouldn’t be at Ronon’s apartment so much either. Tony would probably have ideas; he’d have to ask zyr when they got back.

As soon as they’d seen Ronon on his feet again, McKay and Teyla hurried to where he and Sheppard were standing. It should’ve made Ronon feel trapped, but it didn’t. For once, McKay didn’t start babbling either.

“Shit, did I do that?” Ronon stared at the rapidly blooming bruise on Teyla’s cheek.

Instead of offering him forgiveness, she merely raised one eyebrow and stared at him in that haughty way she sometimes had. It was funny when it happened to McKay, but right now it was making Ronon want to squirm.

“It was merely because you are clumsy, and I did not duck fast enough. We will have to resume morning bantos practice.”

“In other words, you’re going to kick his ass?” Sheppard asked, his crooked smile widening into a genuine grin. “I can live with that.”

Ronon grunted and scowled, but he allowed Teyla to give him a one-arm hug and rest her forehead lightly against his upper arm.

“Well, let’s see what this warehouse has, after all that fuss,” McKay snapped. “Open the door, people, chop chop!”

It took two levers and all four of them before the rusted-shut door finally slid along its track to reveal the inside of the warehouse.

“Empty? How can it be empty?!” McKay squawked indignantly.

Teyla frowned. “Are you certain? Perhaps we need more light.”

Sheppard turned on McKay. “Didn’t you scan this one? I could’ve sworn we talked about that in the jumper.”

“I did! Well—I mean—I _meant_ to, but then Conan started losing his mind, and I got distracted, okay?”

Ronon shook his head. It just figured that the damn thing was empty. It smelled musty, but that was it. It didn’t even look like any animals had gotten in.

Sheppard looked to the heavens and muttered something Ronon didn’t quite catch. “Forget about it. Everybody back in the jumper, and we’ll try lucky number ten.” With a pointed look at McKay, he said, “Let’s make sure there’s actually something in that one before we try to open it.”

Luckily, warehouse ten at least had stuff in it, though it was parts for vehicles and machines they didn’t want or need on Atlantis.

“If there’s room, just load it up anyway, McKay,” Ronon said. “Atlantis can recycle the materials if nothing else.”

McKay grumbled but did as he’d been told.

“If there are other warehouses or stops we need to make, then we’ll have to come back again,” Sheppard noted as he headed the jumper back toward the gate. “It’s getting—”

“There’s one more stop we need to make,” Ronon interrupted.

Sheppard turned his head so he could pin him with a wary look.

“Is this a quick stop? We’re losing daylight, here.”

“I want to take Tony and Darius to where I grew up, but I have to make sure there aren’t any bodies or anything else out there that would be dangerous to them…or upsetting,” he admitted. “Aaron should be allowed to see where zy really came from, too.”

“Are you certain you wish to return to your parents’ lands today?” Teyla questioned softly, no doubt concerned after his break with sanity earlier.

“Yeah. I can’t promise I won’t lose my shit or anything, but I need to see it for myself.”

Sheppard sighed. “Alright, let’s do this before we lose the sun completely. Where are we headed?”

“Pull up a map of the river we were beside, then go south until you get to the third village. That’s Yerava.43 I’ll show you after that.”

“Make me turn this car around,” Sheppard grumbled under his breath, turning back to the river, which made McKay snort a laugh.

Teyla and Ronon just looked at each other. Must be another Earther thing.

The 3-D image popped up on the HUD again, and Ronon watched as it moved along the river until it showed Yerava.

“There! Do you see where the river snakes away and then back just before then the tree line? Zoom in closer, and you should see my family’s place up on a kind of hill. Ilfana44 River was a couple hours’ walk from Tenakan Dex,45 but the woods started right behind our barn.”

Sheppard shot him a confused look over his shoulder. “Tenakan Dex? I thought the village was Yerava.”

“Technically the forest is called Tenakan, which means ‘the plentiful forest.’ My family lived on that property for as long as we have recorded history for that area. By default, we became the keepers of that area and had a lot of say about who was allowed to hunt or chop down trees. Dex means ruler or leader.”

Teyla immediately got what he was telling them, as usual. “So your lands were titled, ‘ruler of the plentiful forest.’”

“Yep.”

“Your family must have been quite wealthy.”

“Not like Earthers think of wealth, but for Sateda? Yeah, we were wealthy. Yerava had two, maybe three thousand people, and a lot of the village was either Dexes, people who married Dexes, or people who’d moved there within the last few hundred years.”

“That doesn’t sound healthy,” McKay noted with a grimace.

Ronon snorted and kicked the base of McKay’s chair. “We all kept records. Nobody was allowed to date or marry someone from the village unless they could prove they were no closer related than third cousins. Maybe we didn’t have Earth’s technology, but only idiots think it’s smart to marry your kin.”

That led to a discussion of Earth’s royal families back to a ruler they called a pharaoh who married his own sister, which made Ronon share a horrified look with Teyla. Then there was a bunch of stuff about rulers who married their first cousins, and how all Earth’s rulers were related somehow. That conversation lasted until they landed. Ronon tuned it out for the most part, though he did make a note to warn Atlantis she’d have to watch for mutated genes from that kind of thing.

Earthers were _disgusting._

Ronon’s breath caught when he stepped out of the jumper. Other than being overgrown and a little run down, everything looked the same. It felt like any second, his family would come running from the house and barn and demand to know why it had been so long since he’d visited, and why didn’t he have a dozen kyta already.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

He swallowed harshly and started toward the house. Abruptly, he stopped and turned back to McKay.

“Look, this all belongs to me. I don’t know if there’s room or not, but could you….?”

McKay’s eyes widened, and he looked around again.

“Oh, you want me to grab it all? Yeah, sure. I can do that. Tell me if there’s stuff you don’t want, otherwise I’ll just assume it all goes.”

Ronon nodded sharply.

“If the wild animals haven’t gotten to it, there’s probably rotten feed and seed crop, which I don’t care about. But the rest…. Yeah. I want the rest. Uh, thanks.”

McKay darted back into the jumper to get the hand-held grab-n-go, and Ronon ordered himself to stop staring and go check the house. Wraith sometimes liked to leave the dead where they’d lived. He wasn’t sure if it was because they were just sick fucks and wanted to terrorize people even more or what.

The door creaked but opened easily enough. It took a few seconds to adjust to the dim light. The windows allowed in some sunlight, but it wasn’t nearly as bright as outside, even as close to dusk as they were.

Ronon’s boots were loud on the wooden floors, which were pitted and worn from the traffic of a family of ten plus all their friends and extended families. It was the scent that nearly knocked him off his feet. Everything was dusty and stale, but other than that, the house still smelled just like it had. It still smelled like _home_.

The silence was the worst thing, Ronon decided. The Dex house had never been silent. Maybe if he just sat down and waited for a little while, Dada and Kelira would come back from visiting one of the many cousins’ houses. Papa would come in from the barn, joking with Renden that if he wasn’t going to leave home, then the very least he could do was get himself a mate and build his own house on their land. The littlest ones would slam through the door after classes—because Jixa always ran everywhere zy went, and Alren and Merias always slammed the door no matter how many times Dada got after them—eager to get home to see what Dada had baked or if there was a letter from Zeran or Ronon, who were crazy and had gone to live in the big city. Maybe even Arissa would come over with her daughters, if only so she could hand them over to Dada so she could take a much-needed nap in the room she and Kelira used to share.

That wouldn’t happen, of course.

None of it would.

None of it ever would happen again, and the Dex’s house would remain silent but for Ronon’s boots as he moved through the living room into the kitchen and up the stairs, briefly glancing into Dada and Papa’s room before deciding he couldn’t bear going in there just yet.

There were four fairly large rooms upstairs: one for the big boys, one for the kysra, one for the girls, and one for the little boys, as Dada had always said. By the time Ronon had left for the city and the military, only the little boys, twelve-year-old Alren and nine-year-old Merias, had still had to share. Arissa had been married for a few years, and Zeran had lived in the city.

Ronon checked the other bedrooms quickly, then moved warily toward the second bedroom. There was a distinctly unpleasant odor coming from Alren and Merias’ room.

Like the rest of the house, the door was part way open. Ronon pushed it open the rest of the way, his eyes rapidly scanning everything. It was when they landed on Merias’ bed and the curled up, golden-brown furred creature lying on it.

“Bellis?” he whispered. He dropped to his knees beside the bed. One shaking hand hovered just over the too-still form. “Bellis? Bellis? No. No, no, _no!_ Don’t do this to me. C’mon, Bellis!”

There was no response. He pulled his hand back and dropped it on his thigh.

He was too late.

Again.

All he could do was stare at Merias’ meura. He really wished whoever was making that horrible keening noise would shut the hell up so he could think.

“Ronon?”

He hadn’t even heard McKay come up the stairs. Were John and Teyla there too? He had no idea.

“Ronon?” McKay said, and this time Ronon heard him step into the room.

“Bellis came back,” Ronon choked out. “He fought and must’a got hurt. Probably Wraith claws. See how he’s missing an eye now, but the big gash across it healed? He didn’t die, not then. Not when the Wraith took Merias.”

A hand rested on Ronon’s shoulder, warm even through the uniform layers. McKay always had warm hands. It was odd that he’d realize that now.

“He came back here.”

“Yeah, he came back to wait for Merias. They were bonded. Explains why there’s no signs of bugs or giget. Bellis came here to wait for Merias, but he never came back. He waited a long, long time, but Merias was gone. He never came back. Nobody came back for Bellis.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Probably didn’t die that long ago. Not much decay, see?”

“Then we need to bury him. He should be honored for his loyalty, right?”

Ronon nodded slowly. “Yeah. Loyal. Meura are always loyal. Like Tony. Like you.”

McKay carefully stepped around him and folded the blanket over Bellis, breaking Ronon’s stare. He blinked rapidly. That weird fog had settled into his brain again.

“Guys?” Sheppard said softly from the hallway.

McKay looked up at him, his chin jutting out stubbornly.

“You and Teyla need to find a couple of shovels in the barn. I didn’t take the rusty ones, but they’d work for this. We need to have a funeral.”

Sheppard sucked in a harsh breath. “Got it.”

Once Sheppard’s steps had faded, McKay asked, “Do you want to carry him, or do you want me to?”

“I got him.” Ronon tried to get up and stumbled. McKay caught him by the arm and steadied him.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Can’t bury the others. No bodies,” Ronon said woodenly. “Ten of us and our meura. Bellis…Bellis is all that’s left. I’ll carry him.”

For someone known for always being aware of everything—hyper-aware, in fact—Ronon had no idea how he got back outside with Bellis’ quilt-wrapped body. It was Merias’ favorite quilt that Dada had made for him. That seemed right. He couldn’t remember the long walk to the family cemetery, nor did he know how the grave got there, right next to Anpapa Resil. He gently laid Bellis in it, though, and the next time he blinked, it was covered once more.

“I’m sorry,” Ronon whispered, his vision blurred by his tears. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back in time. Sorry you died alone. Nobody should die alone. Sorry, Bellis. I’m so sorry.”

Another blink, and he was standing next to the jumper. Teyla had her hand on his arm, and Sheppard and McKay were arguing about something McKay had hidden in his jacket.

“Rodney! It’s a wild animal. You can’t just take it home with you.”

“Why not?!” McKay demanded. “Carter brought back a tanricu, Teyla brought a person, and Tony and Ronon brought back a kid. Why can’t I have a cat?”

Ronon blinked, trying to figure out when he and Tony had gotten a baby goat. Oh, wait. Earthers called children kids. He meant Darius. But a cat? What? Sateda didn’t have cats.

“Because you can’t! There were extenuating circumstances with Starsong, and bringing home people is different than an animal, especially when we don’t know anything about it. It’s not even a real cat!”

“She’s mine!” McKay shouted, louder as if volume negated everything Sheppard had said.

“Please don’t make me the bad guy, not today,” Sheppard begged, reaching for whatever McKay had.

There was a low growl, a flicker of something fluffy, and Sheppard was yanking his hand back.

“Ow! Son of a bitch, it bit me or stung me! Something! If I die, I’m going to kill you, McKay!”

The brain fog receded just a little, and Ronon moved forward until he could see what McKay was so desperate to hang onto.

“Not cat. Kyta,” he said blankly.

They all, including the meura kyta, stared at him.

“What?”

“Not a cat. Kyta.” When that got him uncomprehending stares, he added, “A baby meura.”

Still cradling his hand, Sheppard rolled his eyes. “Okay, so you know what it is. Good. Is it poisonous? Am I going to lose my hand?”

Ronon shrugged. “Not unless you make it sting you a lot more than that. It’s just a baby. Kyta, like I said.”

“Great, a baby. Rodney, put it back before its mom and dad show up and get pissed. You can’t steal other people’s— _animals’_ babies.”

“No! She’s mine!” McKay yowled, turning his shoulder to Sheppard and curling himself over the kyta.

“Can’t,” Ronon snapped bleakly. “Kyta aren’t alone. Never. The parents let him take her. Means they approve of her bonding to him.”

“Bonding?” Sheppard demanded, nearly a whine.

“If she came to him, she bonded to him. If you make him leave her here, she’ll die. She’ll stay here and grieve for him the rest of her life…just like Bellis did for my brother. Meura only bond once,” Ronon said, his tone making perfectly clear what he thought of leaving the kyta.

“Oh, you have _got_ to be—” Sheppard stomped away, spearing one hand into his hair and pulling on a fist full while cursing vehemently.

McKay looked up at Ronon, his brow furrowed in worry. “She’s really like Bellis? I mean, she’ll get that big?”

Ronon nodded. “Probably about that size. You should keep her with you as much as you can. She’s bonded now; not letting her be with you for too many hours would hurt her.”

“How could being away from her hurt her?” Teyla asked, more interested now that it was obvious the meura kyta would be going home with them.

“She’d grieve. Meura aren’t meant to be alone. They bond to humans or to their own families, just like people.”

“Oh, then I’ll have to find a collar or some kind of device that will protect her from Starsong. I don’t want her to get eaten!”

Ronon shrugged again. “She’s smart. They’re both smarter than that. Introduce them. They’ll understand they’re both bonded to humans. It makes them different from prey animals. Starsong never bothers that animal you brought back from Earth for Grant’s daughter, and it’s definitely not as smart as a meura or a tanricu.

“What about food? I can’t exactly order cat food. Wait, can she eat cat food?”

Sheppard strode back over, scowling but resigned.

Ronon stared at him. “We live on the ocean. Meura eat fish," he said slowly, as if to a particularly dense youngling. "Plus, she’ll keep vermin away, so you won’t have to worry about the wiring in storage so much. Just talk to Atlantis and have her create somewhere it’s safe for her to fish without messing up the scientists’ experiments or getting pulled into the ocean.”

“What of the fisher birds?” Teyla asked.

“Unless she has to, she’s not going to leave McKay. The birds will probably stay away from her, especially once she’s grown. Besides, meura are part of Satedan life and culture. Our children have always bonded to meura. Atlantis is gonna bring a lot more meura back to new Sateda—”

“She _what?!_ ”

“—When that happens, they’ll either hide or get eaten.”

Feeling the fog recede further at the thought of being home with Atlantis and Tony, Ronon waved a hand at the forest. “What do you think they’re doing now? Sateda has bigger predators than meura, especially out this close to the forest.”

McKay aimed a darkly suspicious look at the forest while Sheppard threw his hands in the air and started toward the jumper.

“Fine. _Fine_. Since apparently Atlantis was going to import these meura at some point, who am I to say you can’t have one?”

“Do you have everything loaded into the grab-n-go device, Rodney?” Teyla asked softly.

“Yes, of course. I finished all that before I found my meura.”

McKay smiled faintly at the kyta in his coat and stroked one finger from her nose to the back of her head. The meura made a low trilling sound and batted at his hand with soft paws.

“Excellent. Then I believe we should follow the Colonel before he decides to leave us behind.”

Ronon looked back. Sure enough, the jumper was already hovering just above the ground.

Once they were all inside with the hatch closed, McKay looked conflicted between doing his job and holding his meura kyta.

“Tell her it’s okay and hand her to me. I’ll keep her safe,” Ronon said.

It took an exasperated, “Rooodney!” from Sheppard, but McKay did hand over the kyta, who immediately sank her teeth into Ronon’s thumb and rumbled happily as she licked the blood. He just sighed. Maybe Darius and the new baby wouldn’t need meura.

One the way back to the gate, Ronon addressed something he’d been thinking about since before they’d made the trip to former Sateda.

“Sheppard, all this stuff….”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“It’s mine. I mean, it’s all Sateda’s, not Earth’s.”

Sheppard was quiet for a long time, then said, “Well, if you ask Atlantis to take it and lock it all down somewhere, there really isn’t anything I could do about that. Woolsey would have to negotiate for anything he wants for Earth. I’m definitely not telling you to do that; I’m only saying I couldn’t do anything to stop you.”

“What about the weapons we were planning to use to fight the Wraith?” Teyla asked with a frown.

“I’m not saying Earthers and Athosians can’t use the stuff we got, just that they’ll belong to Atlantis and Sateda. Earthers and Athosians could use them as long as they stay in our galaxy fighting against our enemies.”

Her expression cleared. “Ah, I see. It only makes sense, especially with how difficult it has been for Earth to send us the weapons we believe would be more useful against the Wraith.”

“Those zat gun things, yeah.”

Ronon saw the gate through the viewscreen and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. It was always a little weird when he got back to the city and immediately had Atlantis back in his head.

//Ronon, my child, are you well?//

“I’m fine. Please take everything we brought back and lock it down. It belongs to Sateda. There’s some stuff that’s from my family’s home. I’m sure you’ll figure out which is which.”

He thought it was better to get that out before the hatch had opened. He was fairly sure the team would blame Atlantis, and she would accept blame, if they were questioned. He didn’t want Sheppard to get in trouble for having suggested the idea.

//Certainly. I had planned to do so already, as I believe it fair that Earth negotiate for our resources. You should visit Doc X, and then your meraska will be eager to see you to ease zyr mind and reassure zyrself you are well.//

Ronon grunted his assent.

“Give me my meura,” McKay demanded as soon as the jumper had settled into its assigned spot.

“She’s a bloodthirsty little thing. Just like a Satedan should be,” Ronon drawled, showing off his bleeding thumb and making Sheppard roll his eyes and Teyla sigh.

“Get through medical, then go home, Ronon. You’ve got the next few days off—it’s mandatory after a mission like you just had, so don’t give me that look.”

Ronon couldn’t even find it in him to protest much less glare, but he appreciated that Sheppard was letting him keep his pride.

By the time Ronon walked into his and Tony’s bedroom, he was ready to drop.

Tony looked up from where zy was reading, or pretending to read more likely. Zy slipped from the bed and into Ronon’s arms without saying a word.

“Darius?” Ronon whispered.

“I asked Aaron if zy would mind sleeping with him tonight, so they’re both in zyr bed. Atlantis said she thought the mission was rough on you, not that I expected it to be easy.”

Ronon made a sound that could only be called a laugh if it had been repeatedly fed on by a Wraith.

“It was….” He choked on a sob. “Come take a shower with me so I can tell you about it and cry but pretend it’s just the shower water.”

“Of course. Anything you need,” Tony murmured, cradling his face between zyr hands. Zy kissed his lips gently, such a sweet contrast to the day he’d had. Knowing he had Tony, that he wouldn’t be going to an empty room to be alone and grieve his family was the only thing that had gotten him through the day.

Tony eased Ronon’s clothes from him, quietly fussing about the blood from healed cuts and the bruises just beginning to bloom. Instead of a shower, zy talked him into a bath in the huge bathtub.

“Bubbles are just as good a cover for tears,” zy assured him.

Ronon was relieved to let Tony take care of him, from washing his hair to gently soaping his body and washing away the feel and scent of Satedan dust and grime. He found himself telling zyr everything that had happened. When he got to explaining about returning to his family’s home and finding Merias’ meura on his bed having died from loneliness and grief, zy sat astride his thighs and held him as he sobbed.

“Let it out, _caro._ There’s nothing wrong with mourning the family and the years that were stolen from you,” Tony murmured into his hair. “You don’t have to be stoic, not with me.”

Harsh, gut-wrenching sobs tapered off into tears that wouldn’t stop even when Ronon was too worn out to wipe them away. Of course, his wonderful meraska brushed them away with zyr thumbs or kissed them away with zry soft lips. He was more grateful than he could say.

Ronon was completely drained when Tony helped him out of the bath and gently dried him with one of their huge, soft towels. Zy had him sit in their bed while zy dried and combed out his long curls, humming quietly since Ronon was beyond being able to speak anymore, before coaxing him to lie down.

Safe, clean, and too physically spent and emotionally shattered to keep his eyes open, Ronon curled into Tony’s arms. Everything except Tony’s warmth against him, zyr scent in his nostrils, and the feel of zyr skin against his faded from his awareness.

Ronon finally slept.

*~*~*~*

_Casimirday, BellBurnell 7, First Year of the Returned  
(July 26, 2008)_

Consciousness returned slowly to Ronon the next morning. The first thing that he realized was that Tony was speaking, but probably not to him. Not unless zy had suddenly decided to talk to him in what Rodney called baby-talk.

“Good job! How about the goats. Do you think you can find the all the goats in this picture?”

“Dada-dada-dada….” Darius babbled in return, something he’d started to do when he was excited. Sometimes he’d say Papa, but more often than not, he repeated Dada over and over.

Ronon allowed his lips to twitch in amusement, but he didn’t bother to open his eyes. He let himself relax into the soft, warm bed. Tony and Darius kept talking, but he didn’t pay attention to the words. He appreciated that Tony wasn’t trying to whisper or be all that quiet. Ronon’s brain would automatically register as a threat anyone trying to be silent around him while he was sleeping. Speaking and moving normally would be relegated to unimportant background noise. He was at safe at home with his meraska and son, so there wasn’t any reason to worry.

Ronon let himself doze.

When he surfaced again, it was to the feeling of somebody messing with his hair.

“Dada, me? Me Papa me?”

Ronon opened his eyes a slit, just enough to see Darius patting Ronon’s hair, then patting his own head. He and Tony were sitting on the bed beside where Ronon was sleeping half on his stomach. They were leaning over to look at his hair where it was spread all over the pillow.

“You know, I think you’re right. Papa’s been wearing his hair back too much, so we didn’t notice until now that you both have the same curls, don’t you?”

“Papa me!” Darius exclaimed softly, patting his own head again happily.

“You’re like Papa, exactly right.”

Tony reached out and trapped the end of one of Ronon’s spiral curls between zyr fingers and stretched it flat.

“And look what Papa’s hair can do!” zy said, suddenly releasing it and adding in sound effects. “Boing! Isn’t it neat? Boing! Boing!”

“Ahhh-eeeee!” Darius shrieked happily and let loose another litany of, “Dada-dada-dada!”

Ronon almost laughed, but he held it in just in time. He’d hate to startle them and ruin the fun.

“Here, you try. Can you get it? There you go! Now pull back a little—not too tight,” Tony murmured helping Darius to straighten the captive hair. “Okay, let it go. Boing!”

A real giggle burst from Darius, something Ronon had never heard before, and Tony laughed.

Grinning, Ronon couldn’t pretend to be asleep any longer. He drew in a slow, deep breath, and opened his eyes fully on the exhale, as if he’d just woken up. He stretched and yawned.

“Good morning,” Tony said, zyr eyes sparkling with amusement that said zy knew exactly how long he’d been awake.

Ronon smirked and lifted one hand just above the blankets so his first two fingers could “walk” over to Darius and “climb” up his leg to his torso and all the way to the top of his head. He very carefully chose a curl and straightened it, then released it.

“Boing!”

Darius “eeee’d” again and flailed his arms. He flopped forward on to his stomach to crawl closer to Ronon’s head, where he grabbed another curl and straightened it, then all but threw it back at Ronon’s head.

“Boh!”

“Boing!” Ronon and Tony chorused, exchanging stunned but thrilled looks over Darius’ head.

“Can you do it again, beyesah?” Ronon cajoled.

Darius’ violet eyes met his, and he sucked his lip into his mouth, then gamely reached for a curl and repeated the move.

“Boh!”

“Boing!”

All three of them burst into laughter. It wasn’t that Darius’ trick was really that funny, but seeing him so obviously happy was fantastic. After the emotional evisceration Ronon had endured yesterday, Darius’ joy was irresistible.

Ronon rolled onto his back and picked up Darius, sitting him on his chest with both of his comparatively huge hands around his son’s torso to steady him. Gaining clear sight had changed the way Darius’ brain processed everything, which had changed his perception and coordination. That was what Atlantis had said, anyway, and it explained why he frequently lost his balance or stumbled.

“My awesome boy! You make Dada and Papa so happy.”

Ronon lifted Darius above himself so he could press smacking kisses all over his face and hear him giggle again. Tony sprawled onto zyr side, half onto Ronon’s shoulder with the kyta bump pressing into his arm, and offered Darius zyr fingers to hang onto when Ronon sat him back on his stomach. Zy grinned even wider when he took them—a proof of trust that hadn’t existed that long.

“Dada-Papa!” Darius wriggled and grinned, waving the hand Tony wasn’t holding.

As Tony kissed Ronon’s bare shoulder, he said, “Papa loves you, Darius. Papa loves Dada too.”

“And Dada loves both zyr boys,” Tony said, beaming at them and filling Ronon’s heart with joy all over again.

“Dada-Papa,” Darius crooned in what seemed to be agreement. He patted Ronon’s hand, his fingers closing around his papa’s thumb. “Day-wees’ Dada-Papa-bee-bee!”

As always, Tony confirmed Darius’ place with them: “Yep, Darius’ Dada and Papa and baby.”

“Our family,” Ronon added, his heart still wounded but beginning to heal.

The previous day had been unspeakably difficult. Ronon had lost so much in his life, but he couldn’t change the past. Looking at Darius, Tony, and the unborn baby Dex in that moment, he vowed that he’d mourn what he’d lost—because the people he’d loved were worthy of his grief and his tears—but he’d never let those losses overshadow the precious family he’d been granted now. If anything, he’d cherish the living all the more and revel in each moment he had with them. It’s what was right for both his families.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **41** uthillium (oo-THIL-ee-um) an element Atlantis mined from the asteroid belt back in chapter 4  
>  **42** blade to [someone's] rifle: Satedan idiom; to be secondary or lesser important; to be submissive to someone else’s will  
>  **43** Yerava (yur-AH-vah) Ronon's home village on former Sateda  
>  **44** Ilfana River: (ill-FAWN-ah) a river on former Sateda that flowed south from the capital city to Yerava and Tenakan Dex  
>  **45** Tenakan Dex: (TEN-ah-ken DEX) lit. ruler of the plentiful forest; the name of Ronan's family's land on former Sateda


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

_Chernday, BellBurnell 12, First Year of the Returned  
(July 31, 2008)_

It only took him three days after the not-cat incident, as John thought of it, to figure out that Rodney was actively avoiding him. He was upset about that for reasons he wasn’t going to examine too closely, but he let it go for another day before he couldn’t take it anymore and decided he was going to beard the lion in its den. Or maybe the meura in its den.

Wait, did meura even have dens? He hadn’t seen anything resembling a den on former Sateda. Then again, he hadn’t seen any meura until the one Rodney had hidden in his coat had started squirming and making little noises. But dens would’ve been hidden anyway, right? Parent meura wouldn’t want their baby meura exposed to stargate traveling humans or other predators, but that didn’t have to mean dens.

So, dens or no dens? Probably no dens, he decided. Stupid Pegasus planets seemed to go out of their way to ruin all John’s analogies and even more of his best—or worst, depending on how a person looked at it—puns.

It should’ve been easy to track down McKay, since they lived just down the hall from each other in the same building. Even when they weren’t on the same schedules exactly, they tended to run into each other pretty frequently. Besides, if Rodney wasn’t in his apartment, then he could usually be found in his private lab or in the main department lab…assuming he wasn’t running around somewhere fixing something. Yet somehow, Rodney was never in any of those places when John went looking for him.

It took another full day before it finally dawned on him that Rodney was using Atlantis herself to avoid John. Actually, it took walking into the main lab and seeing people stare in open-mouthed surprise at an empty stool in front of an empty bench where Rodney normally set up his computer.

When John raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms, the entire lab full of people suddenly became immersed in their projects and unable to see John much less speak to him. Zelenka was the one to offer a pathetic attempt at covering for Rodney.

“Ah, if you are looking for Rodney, he went to check on…something. Elsewhere.” He adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat awkwardly. “That is, he’s not here now. Did you need something, Colonel?”

John knew what terrified minions looked like when he saw them, so he hadn’t bothered with more than a glare and an order to let him know when McKay was back before he trudged back to his office in a worse mood than he’d started the day with, and he hadn’t exactly woken up on the right side of the bed.

Well, he had woken up on the _physical_ right side of his bed, as he tended to do now that he had a bed big enough to have sides to it. (And he’d gut _anyone_ who tried to take away his bed and its perfect combination of firm support and cloud-soft squish-factor.) He’d woken up grumpy enough to have Ronon, of all people, ask him if he was okay and suggest he spend a little more time with Bessie watching the sun rise that morning.

John knew he’d screwed up with Rodney when he’d tried to take away the not-cat thing on former Sateda, but he’d thought he would get over it after a couple of days. It was clear that wasn’t going to happen, so John was going to have to take matters into his own hands. He was determined to talk to Rodney before something serious came up and put the entire city in danger because Atlantis’ CSO couldn’t stand to be in the same room as her military leader.

John paced in front of Rodney’s apartment door—it hardly seemed right to call their living situation quarters anymore, not once Atlantis had moved everyone into a tower more luxurious than anything John had lived in since he’d moved out of his parents’ place at eighteen—until he finally steeled himself and touched the softly glowing, triangle-shaped sensor that functioned as a doorbell.

There was a muted chime, which was new. Maybe only the office doors sounded like the chirp from _Star Trek: the Next Generation_. John hadn’t had anyone try his door, which was down and across the hall, but Rodney’s was a gentle, three-note chime that seemed like it belonged in some rich manor house instead of an apartment on an alien spaceship.

He couldn’t help being surprised when the door opened, but the entryway was empty. He’d been in Rodney’s place a few times, but he wasn’t comfortable just wandering in, especially when he knew the man was already upset with him.

John stepped in far enough that the door slid closed behind him, a gentle whisper of sound. Habit trained into them all from spending time at the Dex’s place had him taking off his boots as he called out, “Rodney?”

“Kitchen.”

John followed the angled hall past the laundry room on his left and into the kitchen, which opened into a large living area. Rodney was standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring intently at Atlantis’ version of a microwave. The weird little golden-brown not-kitten had draped herself around his neck, her long tail with its deceptively innocent-looking dark tuft flicking lazily across Rodney’s chest. She too watched the spinning plate of food as it was heated, though her rounded ears had swiveled toward John the second he’d entered the room.

John could already smell whatever it was cooking and abruptly became keenly aware that he’d skipped breakfast and lunch.

“Hey.” John shoved his hands in his pockets and wished he weren’t so bad at the whole apologizing to people thing. He also wished Rodney were a little less apt to hold grudges. He was almost as bad about it as John’s ex-wife, and she’d practically crafted monuments that she went back to wreath with flowers and dance the dance of her people on the anniversary of each incident. When fighting insurgents in Afghanistan was more appealing than going home to Nancy, John had realized it was time to file for divorce no matter what it did to his career.

The moment John had spoken, the not-kitten turned her weasel-ish head toward him and laid her ears back, opening her mouth just enough to make an odd _kek-kek-kek_ noise that sounded like a cross between a hiss and a huff. Whatever it was, she clearly meant it to be a warning.

Rodney reached up and scratched under her chin.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let that jerk take you away.”

John winced. “I’m not going to try to take her away, McKay. Look, I even brought a peace offering.”

He opened the cargo pocket on his uniform pants and pulled out small box.

“I know she’s not exactly a cat, but Ronon said she’d like kipper snacks…though you have to keep them away from Tony. I opened a tin of these bad boys, and zy didn’t even make it to the bathroom before zy was losing zyr lunch,” John said with another wince.

He felt bad about making Tony throw up, but Ronon had wanted to try the kippers. John probably should’ve figured out that the overpowering smell of the oily, little fish would set off Tony’s stomach, but he hadn’t. Neither had Tony or Ronon, so he didn’t feel too bad about it. He’d honestly thought aversions to various smells went away after the morning sickness part of pregnancy was over.

Rodney gave John a wary, side-long look. “You brought my meura kipper snacks.”

“Well, yeah.” He tried to shrug casually, but they both knew he’d have to have traded for them since they weren’t anything the military brought to the city.

“Are they poisoned?”

“Rodney!”

“You can’t blame me for asking,” Rodney snapped with a stubborn jut of his chin.

“You know me better than that,” John retorted with a scowl. He sighed and tried again. “Look, I’m sorry I tried to take her away from you back on the planet, okay? if I’d realized she was meant to be a human’s companion, I wouldn’t have objected in the first place.”

“What, did you think I’d just randomly grab some animal and stuff it in my coat to bring home? Right! Because I do that so often on missions! Rodney McKay: beast whisperer! Just call me Kevin Sorbo in _Hercules_ with little ferrets in my pockets!”

The meura caught Rodney’s flailing hand and coiled her tail around his wrist, making that strange _kek-kek-kek_ noise again.

“Sorry, I know you don’t like it when I yell.”

She gave a purring trill and licked his chin, which Rodney protested, but the side of his lips quirked upward in a crooked smile as he continued to pet her. John had to admit she was kind of cute when she wasn’t trying to puncture his hand with fangs, claws, or stinger.

Huh. Sort of like McKay.

“Rodney, I know I didn’t handle it the best, but it had been a hard day already, and I didn’t even get a good enough look at your not-kitten— _meura_ —to know what she was. You said she was sort of a cat, and I got visions of you getting attached, and then Carter making me take her back to the planet when she turned out to be some kind of man-eating tiger. Or worse, having to give her over to the zoologists. She’d still be in the city, but you wouldn’t have access to her. Either way, I knew you’d be heartbroken.” He shrugged and opened the kipper snack box to slide out the tin. This emotional crap sucked. “I didn’t want you to be hurt, that’s all.”

“Hmm….” Rodney didn’t sound convinced, but his posture had softened, and he was actually looking at John instead of glaring, so there was hope.

The microwave dinged, and Rodney waved toward one of the cupboards.

“I can hear your stomach growling from here. Get two plates, you idiot.” He griped, “More hair than brains, I don’t care what Atlantis says.”

John clamped down on the grin that wanted to form. If Rodney was willing to share his food, that meant he really had forgiven him for trying to take the meura away from him. Plus, food. Food that smelled nothing like what John was capable of cooking for himself, not that he made the attempt very often. It was a win-win situation in his book.

Rodney split the food, whatever it was, between the two plates, then grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge.

“Bring your plate and the kippers outside. I know what they smell like, and I don’t want them stinking up the place.”

Half way through the meal, John said, “I know I’m going to regret asking this because it’s really good, but what _is_ this?”

Rodney rolled his eyes and pushed the kipper snack tin father away yet again. The meura was going after the kippers with a single-minded focus and enthusiasm that reminded John of the way Ronon used to eat before he got all civilized again, and she kept sliding the tin closer until Rodney pushed it away with his toes.

“It’s [eggplant](https://www.thespruceeats.com/stuffed-eggplant-parmesan-3056397) stuffed with cheese, tomatoes, and ground beef.”

John cocked his head and stared at his food. “But _how_? I know the Daedalus doesn’t bring us eggplant.”

He had access to Poisson’s real books and inventory now, and there certainly hadn’t been any eggplant on it. He couldn’t imagine someone having it imported from Earth and putting it on Zelenka’s List either.

Rodney sniffed and shot him a half-arrogant, half-wary look before stabbing another bite.

“I might have had the prototype grab-n-go with me when I did a little shopping back on Earth.”

“I see….” John had to debate with himself about how much he wanted to know. There was no telling what Rodney’s version of shopping meant, and if he’d had a grab-n-go, it was highly unlikely the only things he brought back were groceries. He decided he didn’t want to know. Anything he didn’t know, he didn’t have to report either. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I don’t cook, at least nothing like this. Aaron decided zy wanted Tony to teach zyr everything zy knows about cooking, so they experiment a few nights a week. Aaron is a worse mother hen than Tony, and I’m pretty sure Atlantis rats me out if I try to get away with eating Powerbars instead of real meals. If you’d come for supper more often, you’d know, and you’d get sent home with leftovers like this.”

John sighed. “I had hoped—completely unrealistically, I realize—that negotiations would be over and Woolsey would be back on Earth by now.”

“So make Carter deal with him.”

“Oh, she gets more than her fair share of Woolsey-time. At least I can get away some days to work on military stuff. Since Carter’s the IOA-appointed leader of the city, she’s stuck dealing with him more often than not.”

John didn’t mention that sometimes he made Lorne leave him some of the paperwork just so he had a valid excuse to escape the conference room and Woolsey.

Rodney was frowning. “Why didn’t Carter request one of the permanent—sorry, _long-term_ placements when Atlantis offered? Is she worried the IOA will try to appoint another expedition leader?”

“Probably, but I haven’t talked to her about it.”

John had actually been careful _not_ to talk to Carter about it. He knew she was between a rock and a hard place when it came to the IOA and her military oaths. Adding in Atlantis being a, well, _being_ instead of just a physical city made her position even more complicated. John certainly didn’t envy her trying to juggle the oaths, alliances, and her personal goals while mediating a negotiation between Earth and Atlantis and trying to represent both. John had enough on his own plate.

Privately, he wondered if there would come a day when she would have to pick a side and stick to it. Of course, he wondered the same thing about himself. He’d jumped at the chance for a long-term residency in the city, but that didn’t mean he wanted to quit the US military. For all Earth’s problems, they had done a hell of a lot of good in the Milky Way, and John wanted to be the one to lead them in Pegasus. He had some very strong feelings about leading the fight against the Wraith, especially as he was the one who woke them, unintentional though it was.

“Atlantis made it clear in the first negotiation meeting that she would not accept any change in leadership until the alliance between her and Earth is finalized,” John admitted. “I think Carter is waiting to see how negotiations go before she makes a decision on whether or not to apply for residency.”

“Huh.”

Rodney didn’t seem inclined to elaborate as he finished off the last of his stuffed eggplant and set his plate on the small table between the two lounge chairs before picking up his beer. As soon as he leaned back and put his feet up, the meura jumped onto his lap, still licking her chops, circled just like a cat, and lay down. She started rumbling like an old-school engine with a clogged carburetor when he began petting her, stroking from her head all the way down her tail, even straightening some of the fur on her evil little tail tuft.

“So what did you name her?” John asked, adding his empty plate to Rodney’s and picking up his own beer.

“I haven’t decided.” He made a face and continued to pet her until her eyelids were drooping, and she couldn’t seem to focus on kneading his thigh very well. She looked like her human when he was falling into a post-Thanksgiving dinner food coma.

“I was expecting you to say you’d named her something all smart and science-y,” John commented, taking a long pull on his beer. In light of Rodney’s confession, his having Molson beer on-hand made better sense now.

“I thought about it, but we used my favorites for the months and days.”

“What about that one science guy with the cat? Wasn’t it Schroder?”

Rodney shot him a disgusted glare, which had been John’s goal all along. Sometimes he thought he and Ronon were equally bad about wanting to pick at Rodney just to make him yell at them.

“It was _Schrödinger_ , not Schroder. Are you sure you passed high school? Everybody knows about Schrödinger’s cat!”

John hid his smile behind his beer bottle. “So sue me for being bad with names! What about that guy? I know she’s not a cat, but it would still work, right?”

“First, my meura is female and shouldn’t be named after a man.” Rodney began his rant. “Second, Schrödinger came up with a thought experiment to explain superposition as it applies to quantum theory that involved theoretically killing a _cat_! Why?! Why does the thought experiment animal have to be a cat? Couldn’t it be a mouse or a guinea pig? I’d even accept a rat because they’re ugly and spread disease…like plague! Tony already had the plague, though that was spread by an insane, self-titled scientist with an ax to grind, so it doesn’t really count.”

“Guinea pigs are cute,” John offered.

“No, they’re not. They’re long-haired rats without tails,” Rodney retorted. “ _As I was saying_ , I’d never name my meura after someone so callous toward animals, especially cats. And third....”

Rodney halted because the meura wrapped her tail around his forearm and dragged it to her stomach. She had rolled until she was sprawled out on her back and appeared to have determined she required belly rubs. John thought it was creepy as hell that the meura had a prehensile tail, but Rodney’s face went all soft, and he immediately applied himself to appeasing the little monster.

“Third?” John prompted. He didn’t think he could take it if Rodney started baby-talking the meura.

Rodney paused and looked up, earning himself an annoyed _kek-kek-kek_ from the meura until he resumed petting her, at which point she began her rough purring.

“Oh, right. Third, Carter named a cat she used to have Schrödinger. She gave it to some Tollan guy, which showed a serious lack of judgement on her part, considering that they were a bunch of smug, self-righteous assholes who got themselves destroyed by Anubis because their massive superiority complex wouldn’t allow them to form alliances with lowly Earth humans. I’m not going to call my meura Schrödinger. I wouldn’t want Carter to think I was copying her.”

“I see,” John said, one eyebrow having migrated half way up his forehead. He hadn’t taken the time to read about all the peoples of the Milky Way, but the encounter with the Tollan sounded like it had been interesting albeit depressing. It would be worth reading if only to be able to tell Rodney not to be overconfident like the Tollan when he got one of his crazier ideas.

“So if not a scientist, what other ideas do you have?”

“Nothing, really. I’m not very good at naming things. My cat back on Earth was just called Cat,” Rodney admitted sullenly. “I’ve been calling her Kit. You know, like kyta.”

Seeing the way he’d tensed up, ready to be criticized, John made a quiet, non-judgmental sound.

“Kit isn’t bad. There’s a well-known Air Force test pilot whose nickname is Kit, and Kitty Hawk is where the Wright brothers did a bunch of their experimenting.”

Rodney snorted. “If we’re playing random word association games, I might as well name her KitKat after the candy bar. Hey, speaking of which, I think I still have a couple left.”

The pursuit of sugar trumped the name game, and Rodney scooped up the meura and deposited her on John’s lap, much to his alarm. Then he grabbed their dishes and empty bottles and hurried back into the apartment with a belated, “I’ll be right back!” tossed over his shoulder.

John and the meura stared at each other. From the arch of her back, she didn’t look any more pleased about their situation than he was.

He extended one hand toward her warily. “I brought you fish, so no stinging me this time.”

The meura sniffed his fingers, then licked his thumb with her sandpaper tongue, probably tasting where he’d used it to slide bits of eggplant and ground beef onto his fork.

“Okay, licking. Licking is fine.” John eyed her needle-sharp little teeth. “Just as long as you keep those fangs to yourself. I need all my fingers. And my blood.”

Once she’d cleaned off every last molecule of whatever it was she could taste, the meura seemed to content to settle on his thighs and watch the door for Rodney.

John lasted all of three seconds before he was pushing his luck by petting her gently with one finger.

Her caramel fur was very soft and extremely dense, more like a rabbit than like a cat, especially on her lighter chest and belly. Luckily, she didn’t seem to be shedding, which both Earth animals certainly would have been. His black uniform pants would’ve shown every single fur, too.

“Huh. You’re not quite what I expected,” he told her.

Her eyes had an oval pupil, but they bulged outward from her head more like a weasel than a cat. Her pinkish-tan nose was a little too big for her face, and her paws were enormous compared to the rest of her body. Then there was the long tail that was much thicker than a cat’s, not to mention the little tuft at the end like a lion. Yet she somehow still looked right, not like somebody had just taken bits of other animals and thrown them together.

“Don’t worry,” he added, “that’s a good thing.”

She just shoved her triangular head against his fingers until he was scratching the spot just beneath her jaw. She made a chuffing noise and started to knead his leg, making him wince as her claws pierced his thick uniform pants.

“See? I’m not so bad either.”

“I couldn’t find the KitKats,” Rodney announced as he returned. “I brought more beer instead.”

John offered Rodney a lopsided smile in thanks.

“I’m good with beer,” he said. Even if it wasn’t American beer, it was still pretty good. “KitKat and I were making friends.”

Rodney choked on his drink. “I’m not really naming her KitKat!”

“Why not? She’s little and sweet, and I gain a couple pounds just holding her. She’s sort of cat-like, so that part would make sense to anyone, and it’s not a lot different than what you’ve been calling her.”

Rodney shot him a skeptical look and set his beer on the table. He made a kissy sound that had KitKat twisting around and launching herself off John’s legs onto Rodney’s lap.

“People would make fun of m—her,” Rodney said with a small frown.

With how loud and abrasive he could be, it was easy to forget Rodney had a soft underbelly and felt criticism as much or more than other people did.

John shrugged. “Tell ‘em Atlantis likes it. Everybody knows how she likes you, so that’ll shut ‘em up. Besides, KitKats are your favorite candybar. They make you happy, and so does she.”

Rodney’s frown gradually faded as he cuddled KitKat. By the time he had her on her back and was tickling her belly to make her grab his hand with her forepaws and kick like a rabbit with her hind legs, he was smiling.

“Ouch! Careful with those claws, KitKat! Don’t make me order claw caps from Earth!” he exclaimed, and John felt a smile forming on his own lips.

“Now don’t be mean, Rodney. What if Grant’s dog sees her in claw caps? She’ll never live it down.”

“Ha! Like we care what any stupid dog thinks.”

John shifted contentedly and leaned his head back against the chair. He took another sip of beer and let himself relax. Watching his friend play with his meura was an excellent way to end the day.

*~*~*~*

_Gaussday, BellBurnell 14, First Year of the Returned  
(August 2, 2008)_

“I greatly appreciate your making time to meet with me, Atlantis.”

“Of course, Halling,” she replied, once again wearing her humanoid form as she walked with Halling through the area she had crafted and was even now refining for the Athosians and their agricultural lifestyle.

It seemed odd to her, but while the Earthers preferred her to adopt something closer to their dress and manner, the Athosians preferred her form to be something quite obviously _other_. She had chosen one of her more extravagant costumes of bold greens and yellows. The fabric draped in lose panels from her shoulders, shifting and shimmering in the light as it hugged her waist, hip, or thigh, only to drop away as she took another step forward. Her headdress was smaller than the black or gold ones she tended to wear more often, but it was crafted from glowing silver metal and emerald green crystals that also glowed with their own light.

It amused Atlantis to see—through both humanoid eyes and structural sensors—how many watched her with Halling yet would not approach either of them.

“What can I do for you?”

“Great Lady, I think it is more we who are wondering what we can do for you.”

Atlantis tilted her head in silent inquiry, suppressing her amusement that Corporal Austin Red Eagle’s title for her had caught on with the humans so quickly. Even the Athosians referred to her that way now.

“We have been here since YangHui 35th—more than a full Satedan month.”

“That is true,” she acknowledged.

“I have spoken with my people, and we have decided we wish to stay as long as you permit. It was a unanimous decision, the first time I think such a thing has happened among the Athosians in a very long time.”

“Of course you may stay. That is why I am altering the Southwest pier for your people, so you can live among the agricultural areas and within smaller buildings, as you said would be most comfortable.”

“Thank you. We are very grateful.”

Atlantis smiled slightly and inclined her head, accepting their gratitude. She approved of these people who appreciated living on her structure and being shielded from the Wraith. Even with all they had experienced, the Earthers took her for granted most of the time. Moreover, they though themselves entitled to all she was capable of and all resources they happened across, as if there were no others with rights to what Pegasus worlds contained and produced.

Atlantis found Earthers quite vexing more often than not. She had several plans in motion that could alter the balance within her city, though she was committed to preserving as many of her kysra and their loved ones as she could in the meantime. Only time would tell if any of her plans would bear fruit.

“It is because of our gratitude and our desire to remain here that we wondered if there were anything we could do for you, perhaps teach our crafts and skills to others who wish to learn, something more than our ability to post on Zelenka’s List would allow us to do.”

“Ah.” It became clear to her immediately. “You speak of the whispers you have heard of the kysra orphans for whom I negotiate.”

“Forgive me, Great Lady, if I have overstepped.”

Waiving a negligent hand, she declined his apology. “You have not. Had I thought you should _not_ know of the treaty I am forging with the Earthers, I would not have allowed the little spies to overhear.” She slanted him an amused look, pleased not to have to look down as far as with most humans. Halling was taller than even Ronon. “They are quite clever; I have hidden them from the sensors many times now so others would not know they were there.”

“I was not aware there was more than one spy, and that one not a spy at all,” Halling said, his aggrieved tone making Atlantis laugh softly.

“Forgive my amusement, Halling, but I believe Kysra Tony would call the four little ones ‘scamps,’ meaning delightfully mischievous children. Once word of their threats to Investigator Grant became known, they along with your son and his friend became welcomed favorites among the Earthers, if only so they could see what the children would come up with next.”

Halling huffed out a breath, rolling his eyes to the heavens.

“I suppose they do not have this child minder they claimed either?”

“I watch over a great many humans,” Atlantis replied, allowing Halling to believe what he would, “and unless they are on a ‘boys only’ spying mission, they usually play with one or both of the Earther girls under their parents’ supervision. I believe you know Gemini Grant and her parents, but perhaps you have not yet met Jimmy, Michelle, and their daughter Amanda.”

“No, I only know the one Earther child.”

“I see. Well, all six children are helping me further refine my plans for the city and the various child-friendly facilities and recreational areas I will build.”

“As long as they are welcome, I will not interfere,” Halling decided.

“They are. The other Athosian children are welcome, you know. The adults as well.”

Halling looked up at her, obviously surprised at that. “I had thought the Earthers did not wish us to be in the central city.”

Atlantis considered that and posed the question to Rodney. His reply was gratifyingly swift.

“It is not that they do not wish the Athosians to intermix or even take up residences wherever they wish; they only must know where people are for emergencies. Like the children, they would also have to refrain from attempting to open doors that resist. There are many places they _must_ not go for safety reasons, both their own and the rest of the population.”

“Is that what why some buildings do not open at all, even on this pier?”

“Precisely. There is very little I have not dealt with one way or another, but that does not mean every building is safe for every being,” she explained. “I would not permit you to venture into my drone production facilities any more than I would permit anyone else who did not know exactly what he was doing. In fact, I might allow you before I allowed others, as you do not have the Alteran gene, nor the Satedan one required to activate the new drones.”

“No longer solely the Alteran gene? Ah—forgive me,” he apologized immediately. “That is not for me to know.”

“I wish for you to know, Halling. That is why I brought it up. I suspect that is where our conversation was heading, simply more slowly,” Atlantis countered, inclining her head toward a small group of Athosians who were trying to subtly watch them as she and Halling passed by. “What you truly wish to know is what I would require from your people in order to become true Satedan citizens with all the privileges and duties inherent…such as raising kysra orphans who come through the Stargate.”

Halling was more difficult to read than some humans, as he was more reserved, but Atlantis thought that the way he tugged on his long cloak indicated both that she was correct and that he was nervous.

“You are right, Lady Atlantis. My people wish to be equal with the Earthers, not beneath them. Even now, many worry that if something were to happen to you, we would again be cast out.”

That was an assumption she could and would correct immediately for the sake of the Athosians any others she might bring under her protection.

“Now that I am awake, you will not be cast out,” she stated firmly. “If something of such a catastrophic nature happened that I was destroyed or ‘died,’ as you think of it, no other life form would survive either. In fact, there would no longer be a city, as I am wholly interwoven with the physical nature of this structure.”

Halling frowned. “I see.”

“Furthermore, the humans on Earth may think they run this city. They do not. Many times I accept counsel from Samantha Carter and John Sheppard, but I would accept the same counsel from you regarding your people. Just the same, I have no compulsion to heed _any_ counsel save my own. I decide who stays within my structure and who is cast out, and I tell you now that the Athosian people shall stay as long as they like.”

Atlantis smiled and added, “I would have invited the Athosians to return and remain if only for Teyla Emmagan’s sake. I hold her in great esteem.”

The slight widening of Halling’s eyes in surprise was the only indication that he’d caught both comfort and warning in the statement. He dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement.

“And of the kysra orphans. Will the Athosian people be allowed to raise the beloved kyta?”

“I am now able to rewrite the code that makes up a human’s physical existence,” Atlantis said carefully. “For instance, Kysra Tony’s son, whom zy and Ronon rescued from Win’nala, is now entirely Satedan. He will experience the Interim when he comes of age, and he will grow knowing he is as Satedan as his pater.”

Halling had come to a full stop next to the stone Atlantis had mined from deep in the ocean and turned into stone fences that the Athosians would be more comfortable with.

“The—ah—very pale child. Is that the one you speak of?”

“Yes.” She turned to face him, looking him in the eye. “You will note his skin color and eye color have not changed. I could have, but I chose not to, nor did Tony wish me to change him thusly. Such aspects of his physical person do _not_ make him less desirable than one of your coloring or of youngling Balek over there, who has skin of a deeper tone than I chose for my own humanoid form. I will welcome any and all of the so-called eidolon. I will not tolerate foolish prejudice within my structure.”

Halling dipped his head again, and Atlantis was certain every Athosian would know before nightfall.

Good.

Every human within her shields was already aware of the one she had returned to Earth through the stargate just last week. He’d been punished for his despicable behavior toward Lt. Imani Akenzua regarding the color of her skin and her usefulness as a woman among a largely male population. He then attempted to lay hands upon her person.

After Lt. Akenzua had, as Ronon put it, kicked his ass for being a waste of genetic material, Atlantis had put him in orbit in a “hamster ball” so he could think about what he had done while his former housemates packed up his things. As soon as Atlantis had finished bouncing him around space, she dialed the gate and returned him to Earth still covered in his own feces and vomit.

Admittedly, Atlantis’ temper had been shorter due to her frustrations with the IOA and Earth, but it had been well past time for her to declare that such behavior was not going to be tolerated. She could not alter people’s minds, but they _would_ keep their words and actions civil, or she would discipline them.

“Would it be correct to presume that you wish the kysra to be brought up Satedan, Lady Atlantis?”

“I do,” she acknowledged, and they turned and began to walk once more. “I wish to revive the Satedan people, and there is only one way I can guarantee will give other humans the memories and understanding to begin that process. I have offered to change some Earth-born humans, and I will offer that option to some Athosians as well.

“Be aware that becoming Satedan will require having me Joined to their minds for the rest of their lives. Not all humans could accept that, nor would they wish to. There is nothing wrong with choosing to retain the Athosian mindset and culture; however, as with the Earthers, I will not be offering them kysra orphans to raise. Not as my first choice, certainly.”

Halling asked warily, “There are many Earthers who have become Satedan, then?”

“Not a large number, though you will permit me to keep the exact count secret for now.”

“Yes, of course.” Halling paused and carefully added, “It is a complex decision.”

“Very much so.” She sent a quick thought to Tony and received zyr permission. “All know Tony is Satedan, and zy has said we may discuss zyr case because it is rare. Zy left little on Earth when zy came to me with Ronon. Once zy had gone back to Earth and then returned again to us, zy said that there is nothing zy truly misses other than a chili-cheese hotdog from zyr favorite hotdog vender.”

Halling looked at her and shook his head in confusion.

“It is a type of Earth food sold from a small stand much like Athosian faire foods.”

“Ah.”

“I suspect zyr craving has more to do with zyr pregnancy than a true desire for this chili-cheese hotdog. Regardless, everyone Tony loves is with zyr here within my structure. Those who understand zy is genetically Satedan accept that because they didn’t know zyr before.

“Athosians have more to weigh. The entire Athosian population is within my structure, not merely a tiny fraction. As First Leader, you must consider that the people who choose to become Satedan will no longer be part of the Athosian gene pool to contribute their genetic diversity.”

Halling stumbled slightly. “Just how many people does Earth have if those here account for a ‘tiny fraction?!’”

“Over seven billion,” Atlantis said gently, unable to help him brace for such a shock.

He blinked and stared at her. “Surely you mean seven million.”

“No, Halling. There are more than seven _billion_ humans on Earth.”

Halling wavered on his feet, his face paling to nearly the same shade as Darius’ usual color. He opened and closed his mouth several times as if he would say something but could not decide what.

“Yes, it is overwhelming, even to me. I believe there are more humans on Earth than in Pegasus altogether. It is a planet sheltered and greatly blessed to have been allowed to flourish for thousands of years.”

“I do not know what to say.”

“I understand.” Atlantis put his hand in the crook of her elbow and led him to start walking so those watching wouldn’t think she’d told him something frightening. “What I was trying to say about Tony and zyr having been changed is this: I changed zyr without asking. Though zy has told me zy has no regrets, Tony helped me understand why every person must have a choice. When your people ask, please reassure them I will never change them without their knowledge or against their will.”

“I greatly appreciate the assurance, Lady Atlantis,” Halling said, having recovered somewhat.

Seeing that they were at the edge of the Athosian settlement, Atlantis allowed Halling to turn them back the way they’d come. Absently, she concluded that she was pleased with how the Athosians were acclimating to the things she’d designed so far, and she noted other enhancements she could create to make their lives easier.

“I expect that the Earthers will delay sending the orphans until I ‘put my foot down,’ so says one of their idioms. By that time, I expect that several of the Earther people whom I have offered to alter will have accepted.”

“I see.” Halling frowned and began to look troubled.

“That is not to say that I will deny children a home if I do not have sufficient Satedans prepared to be parents,” Atlantis admitted. “Truthfully, I have more confidence in Athosian parenting skills, though some would be excluded, such as those who have already shown their biological offspring neglect or abuse.”

Halling nodded but he was still frowning. “With the opportunity to be a parent to a kysra, I worry that the Athosians will soon be gone just as much as the Satedans were thought to be.”

“I doubt that will happen. Perhaps after several thousand years my structure will contain only one people group. By that time, all three cultures will be so intermixed that none will be entirely what it once was. I have had to accept that Satedans will never be what they once were.”

Thinking about the small number of Athosian younglings, Atlantis added, “If your people desire offspring are not able to have them because of a physical reason, you must alert me. I will restore fertility to anyone who wishes it, if it is within my abilities. I cannot see how it would not be.”

It was not arrogance when it was truth, as Rodney would say. The human body was complicated, but certainly not beyond Atlantis’ skill.

Halling brightened considerably. “That will be wonderful news for several among us. The number of children has decreased every year for several decades, but we have never known the reason.”

“Then we must find out. I will alert Doc Xander to expect the Athosians. I believe we should scan every person to make sure they are healthy. There is no reason for the Athosians to suffer from wasting diseases, infertility, or any number of other ailments when I have the power to correct them.”

Atlantis realized she’d never actually told the Earthers she had reached the point where she was able to scan each of them and effect repairs. She should do that…or perhaps offer it during negotiations. If Woolsey and Jackson protested, she would say she had offered it as part of her negotiations to the Athosians as well.

“Perhaps we should discuss those you believe would be the best candidates for kysra parenthood, whether they become Satedan or remain Athosian,” she suggested, hesitating when she realized she had erred when she had agreed to negotiate with Earth. “Furthermore, I believe you or your chosen representative should attend negotiations. Your people have a vested interest in this city. You should have a voice in guiding the changes we make, not merely be subject to them.”

Halling’s eyes lit up, a slight smile forming on his lips. “Yes, I would like that _very_ much.”

“Then it shall be done. As amusing as the little spies are, it is wrong to exclude the Athosians. Please forgive me for not seeing this sooner, First Leader.”

“No forgiveness is necessary. We are happy beyond measure to be permitted to remain here, and we are honored that you would include us in your plans, Atlantis.”

Atlantis smiled and extended her hand. “Then please allow me to escort you to our first joint negotiation meeting. I expect it will be… _interesting._ ”


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the mechanics of pregnancy and nursing bother you, you'll want to skip this chapter.

**Chapter 25**

_Casimirday, BellBurnell 16, First Year of the Returned  
(August 4, 2008)_

“I’m going to take Aaron with me today to visit the Athosians,” Tony announced.

“What?” Ronon’s head whipped around, and he nearly dropped the knife he was stowing in his vest in his surprise. “But I promised Sheppard I would take this mission. You know he’s been after me to go with him and some of the new teams to teach them tracking and blending into Pegasus worlds. We’re taking that new team—SR-11, I think—out today.”

Tony arched zyr eyebrow in challenge while zy shook out and folded Darius’ freshly laundered Nemo blanky. He had several blankets, but only one favorite. Zy’d had to sneak it away while he was sleeping just to get it washed, and zy was hoping to get it back to him before he woke up. If Tony’s internal Darius clock was working, they had about ten minutes.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, you know.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean I won’t worry about you, even when you’re in the city.” Ronon frowned as he went back to finishing getting dressed. “Never said it made sense. I assume you’re taking Darius with you.”

“Of course.” Tony pulled another blanket out of the pile. Zy couldn’t resist pressing that one to zyr face and breathing in before shaking it out to fold. Doing laundry was almost worth the bother when it made the blankets so fluffy and smell so good. Zy didn’t know what was in the detergent, but it was nothing like Earth’s over-perfumed versions, and it cleaned and softened just as well. “We won’t be alone, if that’s what you’re worried about. Doc Xander and one of his nurses are going too. They’re going to do health checks on a bunch of kids.”

“Oh, didn’t he say something when he came over for dinner the other night? A couple of new babies he hasn’t seen yet or something?” Ronon’s expression cleared. “Plus, you can talk to the midwife about—” he gestured at his own chest, “—how sore you are.”

 “Yeah, that and the stupid _leaking_ all over the place. I could handle the soreness if I weren’t randomly making a mess of my shirts. If this keeps up, I’m going to have to give in and start wearing those damn nursing pads.” Tony made face. “Doc said that some bearers start lactating prior to giving birth, but it’s not usually this much. He admitted that he hasn’t ever dealt with a kysra with strictly Satedan genetics before. We thought that even if the Athosian midwife hasn’t either, she might have heard stories. I mean, I’m into the third trimester, but the baby isn’t really that close to being done baking. I’m going to go nuts if this is how it’s going to be until zy decides to make zyr grand entrance.”

“Yeah?” Ronon was watching zyr with that interested look that was usually a prelude to sex. “M’kysra, you know I’d—”

“Acht! Don’t even think about it!”

“What? I was just going to say—”

“I know _exactly_ what you were going to suggest, Ronon Dex.” Tony huffed. “You’re a walking oral fixation.”

Ronon chuckled softly. “You can’t blame me, dahrym. Until they got so sore, I don’t remember you having a problem with how much I like to suck on your nipples…or any of your other places.”

 “Yeah, well, if you ever want to see any of my _places_ again for adult play time, stop suggesting ways you can ‘help’ me.” Tony tried to look stern but ended up rolling zyr eyes and grinning.

Ronon grinned back and finished strapping his thigh holster on. Eyes half-lidded, he prowled over to zyr.

“How about I stop suggesting I help, and if you’re feeling better and we don’t have a little one sleeping with us tonight….” He trailed off as he slipped his arms around Tony, palming zyr ass and pressing zyr tightly to him.

“I don’t even need to ask if that’s your gun,” Tony said, zyr voice husky as zy pulled Ronon’s head down and tilted zyrs up to meet him.

“Nope. I’m always happy to see you,” Ronon mumbled against zyr lips.

Tony hummed into the kiss. Zy did love kissing Ronon, especially when it was slow, deep, and hot. Laundry was forgotten as zy melted in Ronon’s arms, grinding zyr rapidly hardening cock against zyr husband’s strategically placed thigh.

“We don’t have time for this,” Tony objected half-heartedly when they had to part to breathe.

Ronon growled, “We’ll make time.”

Tony’s breath hitched. Zy shivered when Ronon started mouthing zyr neck and that one spot that always got zyr from interested to hard.

“Dada?”

The whisper-soft, hesitant voice almost made Tony curse silently. Who’d have guessed that children were instinctive little cock-blockers? They were also more effective for killing an erection than a bucket of ice.

“Hey there,” Tony greeted, turning toward their son without moving away from Ronon. Darius was still intimidated by his papa sometimes, so Tony tried to reinforce that it was okay to come to them when both zy and Ronon were there. “Papa is going with Uncle John and Uncle Rodney today. I’m glad you woke up early enough to tell him bye.”

With one last squeeze to Tony’s ass, Ronon released zyr and knelt down. “Yep, gotta help Uncle John and Uncle Rodney teach other people how to go other places too.” He reached carefully toward Darius. “Can Papa have a hug before he goes?”

Darius rubbed his eyes with his fists and then looked between them before taking a hesitant step forward. Ronon and Tony waited patiently. They both knew it was important for it to be Darius’ decision.

They were rewarded when he stepped slowly into Ronon’s arms. Once Darius had made his decision, Tony knelt beside them, one hand on Ronon’s shoulder as Ronon ever-so-gently hugged Darius. His hand looked massive splayed across the entire width of Darius’ fleece-covered back.

“Thank you, Darius,” Ronon said, dropping a kiss on the top of his curly head. “I love you, and I’ll see you tonight.”

“Tuh-nigh,” Darius parroted sleepily, making Tony and Ronon both smile delightedly.

Darius had finally started mimicking their speech in the last few days, which Doc Xander and the psychologist, Dr. Picard, had both said was a major achievement. Darius understood far more than he spoke, which only made sense. He wouldn’t have wanted to draw attention to himself back on Win’nala. Tony assumed that other than his mother and Saela, the only attention he’d known there was negative.

“That’s right; I’ll see you tonight. Good job, Darius!” Ronon praised, getting a shy smile before Darius ducked his head and looked for Tony again.

“Dada?”

Tony held out zyr hands, and Darius toddled eagerly into zyr arms. Tony hugged him close and rested zyr cheek on his head.

“I really do have to get going. Sheppard’s going to be yelling in my comm any minute if I don’t.” Ronon sighed and, with what seemed like no effort, lifted Tony to zyr feet with Darius secure in zyr arms.

“I know, I know.” Tony grabbed Darius’ blanky off the bed, grateful their son hadn’t realized it was missing yet. Zy tucked it between Darius and zyr chest and followed Ronon to the transporter. “Be safe, _caro_. I love you.”

Ronon pulled them both into one last hug, kissing Tony on the lips before giving Darius’ temple a swift brush of lips.

“Love you too, m’kysra; I’ll always do everything in my power to come back to you and our children,” Ronon replied, completing their ritual by splaying his fingers over the baby bump.

Tony sighed when Ronon was gone. Zy’d go stark raving nuts if zy had Ronon hovering over zyr all day every day, but that didn’t mean zy wouldn’t worry about him while he was gone. The Wraith had been a lot more active, and all the teams had had more close calls than normal lately.

“Well, Darius, what do you say to some breakfast, some very exciting laundry folding, and then a fun trip with Aaron and Doc Xander?”

Darius hummed around his thumb.

Tony smiled, gently smoothing Darius’ curls out of his eyes. Tony had almost suggested a haircut the other day, but once Darius had discovered his curls were like his papa’s, zy decided there was no harm in letting it grow out so he and Ronon could have that in common.

“Okay, _bambino_. Breakfast it is. How would you feel about eggs and some of that roasted seaweed? We’ve got some leftover smoked fish too.”

*~*~*~*

Tony would never get over being treated like zy was royalty. Zy had to wonder if it would always be that way. Zy hoped not, honestly. Zy was thankful that zy’d brought Aaron with zyr, and not just because zy had gotten too big to comfortably carry Darius for long distances. Aaron was young, sweet, and unmarried. Zy also blushed adorably when some of the young adults close to zyr own age tried to touch zyr or start up a conversation. The teenager was baffled by the attention, which just made it that much more endearing in the minds of the Athosians.

“For you, Kysra Aaron!” A girl a few years younger than Talsan and Saylor held out a woven crown of bright yellow flowers.

“Oh, that's really pretty!” Aaron exclaimed, pausing and bending zyr knees to lower zyr head to a height that would allow the girl to settle the crown on zyr.

Their entourage paused as well, of course, which gave the other children the courage to flood forward with their floral offerings.

Tony was pretty sure either Ronon or Sgt. Major Wolfe had requested the additional bodyguards zy and Aaron had been stuck with. Even though Tony and Aaron weren’t leaving the city, and Doc Xander hadn’t taken along any help last time he’d visited the Athosians, that morning saw Tony and Aaron walking with AR-3 in a loose circle around them.

> “Really?” Tony had questioned Sgt. Stackhouse.
> 
> His lips twitched in amusement. “You know Corrigan is an anthropologist, yeah? He wanted to interview some of the Athosians. Naturally, the rest of us decided to tag along.”
> 
> “Naturally,” Tony drawled, not believing it for a second.
> 
> Lt. Akenzua fluttered her thick, black lashes innocently. “I’ve never been to the Athosian section of the city, Kysra Dex. Neither has Yamato.”
> 
> “And it’s pure coincidence that you decided today would be the day, huh?”
> 
> “Of course,” Stackhouse smirked.
> 
> “What else could it be?” Akenzua added with a devilish grin.
> 
> “You’re both smartasses.”
> 
> Stackhouse snorted. “True. I’m told we should get along great.”

Aaron was better than Tony with the children who wove flower crowns for zyr and insisted zy wear them. Tony still ended up with several flower crowns, but nothing like the veritable garden Aaron wore by the time they made it to their destination. Not even holding an eidolon child had deterred the well-wishers.

“That one would be perfect for Darius,” Aaron said and permitted yet another child with a flower crown to add to zyr and Darius’ decorations.

It must’ve been one type of pollen too many: Darius’ eyes went wide in shock before he let rip a long series of sneezes that toppled all his crowns to the ground. Poor Aaron’s shirt would never be the same.

“Here, let me give you a tissue for him and a wipe for you,” Doc Xander managed to say without laughing at Aaron’s disgruntled expression.

“The problem with a K’tan is there’s no way to quickly hold the sneezing—or puking—baby away from you."

“Well, at least this was just sneezing,” Tony commiserated as zy wiped Darius’ nose with the tissue, then followed up with a wet-wipe. “I’ll get the pollen off him. That should hopefully keep him from decorating your shirt again. Isn’t that right, Darius? They smell nice, but sometimes they’re not so good right in our noses.”

When Tony tried to step back, Darius protested with a little whine, tear-filled eyes, and a trembling frown.

“Aw, crap. Aaron, let’s get him out of there, and I’ll carry him the rest of the way.”

“Are you sure?” Aaron asked, even as zy helped Tony separate toddler and carrier wrap.

“It’ll be fine. If not, I’ll ask Atlantis to beam us. I know it freaks out some of the animals that roam the settlement, but I’m more concerned about Darius feeling safe.”

“Tony also knows if zy does anything unwise, I shall not hesitate to put zyr back on bed rest,” Doc Xander commented casually. “You might want to put Darius’ blanket over him. It’s possible some of his distress is because he’s overstimulated.”

“Good plan,” Tony replied distractedly. Zy couldn’t hear most of what people were saying, but what zy could hear was all positive—mostly observations about how wonderful a parent Aaron would be when zy was ready for children. More than one young person was watching Aaron intently enough that Tony was suddenly glad for AR-3’s presence. Zy didn’t believe anyone would be stupid enough to try anything within the city, but zy was happier knowing there were others who were there as obvious bodyguards.

Aaron pulled the blanket up over Darius’ head where it rested on Tony’s shoulder, his forehead tucked against zyr neck.

“Good?”

“Perfect. Thanks, Wolfe pup.”

Aaron smiled and patted Darius’ back. Zy quickly picked up the flower crowns that had been lost in the shuffle and resettled them on zyr own head again, endearing zyrself more than ever to Athosian adults and children alike, before they headed toward the settlement again.

Tony was grateful that someone, possibly Atlantis herself, had informed the Athosians that Tony had adopted an albino child because no one said or did anything obviously unkind, though some people regarded Darius a little warily. Zy had the feeling he wouldn’t have been treated nearly so well otherwise, even among Teyla’s people. Zy didn’t think zy’d have problems with the midwife, Anara, though.

Like Teyla, Anara could sense the Wraith. Had she been anything other than a healer or midwife, doubtless Anara would’ve suffered the same prejudice Teyla had dealt with once the origin of her ability had been made known. Anara had a spacious apartment on the ground floor of the building meant for those who didn’t farm or need large, outdoor spaces. The others who had Wraith DNA kept smaller homes at the edge of the land Atlantis had allotted to the Athosians. Tony didn’t know if it was their choice, or if they were being ostracized. Zy sincerely hoped it was the former.

It blew Tony’s mind that people would shun people whose abilities were an asset, no matter how they came by those abilities. Then again, Tony just didn’t understand prejudice like that anyway. Zy understood at an intellectual level because zy had seen so much worse zyr entire career, but zy would never understand at the level required to justify prejudice against someone because of a DNA quirk they had no control over.

By the time they arrived at Anara’s home, Tony was glad to be invited inside to sit down, if only because Doc Xander was giving zyr the hairy eyeball and looked like he was considering the dreaded bed rest plan, given how out-of-breath Tony was.

Anara was an older woman with long, dark hair with a few grey strands and smoky blue eyes. She dressed plainly and without jewelry other than a ring on her left middle finger, but Tony was familiar enough with choosing quality fabrics for zyr suits that zy could tell the material Anara wore was of better quality and more expensive than anything zy had seen any of the other Athosians wear. Even Halling and the other leaders wore basic garments made from good, durable material but nothing Tony would call high-end fabric.

The apartment displayed Anara’s wealth as well. It reminded Tony of several movies zy’d seen that were supposed to have been set in the Middle East. The walls were covered with beaded and textured fabrics. Thick rugs with intricately woven designs were scattered over the floor. There were low couches that were more ultra-thick cushions than actual sofas, as well as a plethora of pillows of varying sizes and shapes. Everything was done in rich colors that made the room feel warm and inviting.

The most interesting wall held shelf after shelf of jars, pots, and vials filled with unlabeled substances. Tony was relieved to see the teapot and cups were on a table at Anara’s right hand rather than anywhere near the potions wall. Zy wouldn’t want to see what happened if she mixed up her tea and whatever else she had in those jars.

The best thing about Anara was that if she thought Tony was anything special, she hid it well.

“You have questions for me, Kysra,” she said mildly as she poured tea for them both.

“Yeah, uh….” Tony settled Darius on zyr lap and picked up the small mug. Like more traditional Asian tea mugs, it hand no handle. Zy took a cautious sip of the tea and was surprised by the lightly spiced, almost cinnamon flavor. “Hey, this is really good!”

Anara laughed, “You didn’t think I would serve you that tea Teyla enjoys so much, did you?”

Tony grinned. “Well, I was hoping not, but I didn’t want to offend if it was.”

Anara seemed even more amused. “No, my dear. That tea is filled with wonderful properties for an active warrior, but it would never agree with the more sensitive stomach those bearing a child tend to have.”

“I can believe that.” Tony shivered in disgust. “Teyla calls it a ‘stout tea,’ but it was more bitter than coffee. I don’t think any amount of flavoring could hide the bite it has, and I’m glad I only tried a sip when Ronon was having some one time.”

“You are likely correct,” Anara said, reaching to the side to pick up a piece of either knitting or crochet she was working on. Tony knew you used one hook thing for one and two needles for the other, but zy didn’t know which was which.

It might have been strange to have a medical doctor pick up her knitting during a visit, but something Tony had observed about the Athosians was that they were never idle. Atlantis had previously remarked that even Halling brought thin strips of leather he braided into complex designs during negotiation meetings.

“Now, tell me what has you worried. Though you are welcome, I do not believe you came here to drink tea.”

Tony shook zyr head. “You’re right. I’m just not sure—I mean I….”

“Just speak, Kysra. I very much doubt that you could shock me with any question you might have. I have heard all manner of questions from expectant parents during my time as a midwife, which I began as an apprentice when I was a mere slip of a girl many years ago.”

“Call me Tony, please.” Zy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, so over the last several weeks, my nipples have been incredibly sore. Not that I’ll shoot through the roof if you touch them kind of sore, but still really uncomfortable.”

Anara cocked her head to the side and studied zyr, her expression giving away nothing. “Hmm…. What else?”

“I saw Doc Xander last Gaussday and told him about it because even the tissue around them, I guess my breasts, though guys—kysra—on Earth usually just say pecs since breasts are considered to be just a female thing. Um, anyway, that whole area has gotten swollen.” Zy shrugged, embarrassed and not quite sure why because it was what zy’d come to discuss. “I know it’s too early to be getting ready to nurse—I’m a little over six Earth months. Um, that’s one-hundred eighty days. I’m not sure how you measure it.”

“I adapt to the unit of time used by the planet my clients are on, which means you have nearly two months before you deliver your child. What did your Healer Xander say?”

Tony flushed. “I’m lactating. That wouldn’t be totally abnormal, he said, except I’m lactating a _lot_. I don’t understand what’s wrong with my body. Like you said, I still have about two months to go. Doc Xander said it’s normal to have a little leaking, but this is getting ridiculous! What am I supposed to do until the baby is born?”

Anara nodded, but she hesitated before asking, “May I also examine you, Kys—Tony? I believe you, but I would like to see the affected area. I assure you that your privacy is quite secure here. The glass turns opaque, but I will also pull the curtains to keep the little ones and the unforgivably curious away. Ren is out visiting Jora; we would only be disturbed if an emergency arose.”

“Yeah, of course,” Tony agreed, setting down zyr tea. Zy attempted to convince Darius sit beside zyr instead of on zyr lap, but he immediately clung and started to cry, so zy made due and put him back on zyr lap. While Anara pulled the curtains closed in front of the wall of windows, Tony began pulling off zyr shirts, hissing as zy removed the compression shirt zy was wearing to keep the fabric of the rest from rubbing against zyr sore chest. “I’m here for your expert advice, so I figured you’d need to see what I was talking about.”

Kneeling next to Tony on the colorful rugs, Anara examined zyr by pressing gently from the lymph nodes under zyr arm to zyr pectorals, much as Doc Xander had during zyr visit, working easily around Darius. At least her hands were warm from the tea, which was more than could be said for Doc’s that day. Why was it doctors always had the coldest hands?

“When did you say you first noticed the discomfort?”

“Um, about four weeks ago, maybe?” Tony furrowed zyr brow, trying to think of exactly when it was. “Possibly a little more, but I might not have noticed it what with getting Darius settled in.”

“Darius?” Anara asked distractedly as she continued her exam.  

“Yeah, this is Darius, my son. It’s kind of a long story, but the condensed version is that I was on another planet with my husband, Ronon, and his team. The Old Ones gave us Darius late that night. Of course, we kept him. We would’ve even if he hadn’t been a gift. I was worried about what the locals would think, so Ronon explained to me about how kysra were known to adopt orphans.”

Anara glanced at Darius, then fixed Tony a knowing look. “Ah, I see. Quite a blessing for him.”

Tony nodded, then hissed as Anara hit an especially sore spot. “A blessing for all of us.”

“Your Darius is quite thin, perhaps undernourished,” Anara said tactfully, sitting back on her heels. She was finished with her exam, it seemed.

Zy frowned and cradled Darius’ tense body against zyr. He obviously knew they were talking about him.

“Yeah. I don’t even know how he’d been surviving as long as he had. Both his birth parents were…gone, and the people there abused and neglected him.” Tony sniffed and wiped a tear away, mentally groaning at the “joys” of hormones. Zy just knew someday zy was going to end up watching a stupid chick flick and bawling at the happy ending.

Anara shot zyr a sympathetic look and, more helpfully, handed Tony zyr tea from earlier before moving back to her cushion. “Tell me, did you feed him as soon as possible?”

Taking a sip of tea, Tony replied, “Of course. Ronon made us this huge bowl of oatmeal-like stuff with berries in it. It was good, but Darius struggled. Poor little guy wouldn’t even try to feed himself. He’d only eat when I spooned it directly into his mouth. Even then, he had a hard time. I could tell he was literally starving, but with all the evil looks he was getting from the people around us, he was too scared to eat.”

Anara looked satisfied, like she’d been expecting that answer, so Tony had to ask why.

“Answer for me one more question, and I promise I will tell you. How has your Darius been eating now?”

Tony didn’t see why it mattered, but zy answered anyway.

“As well as can be expected, I guess.” Zy set zyr tea on the small table beside zyr couch so zy could cuddle Darius better. “Honestly, not as well as I’d like. Some of our foods are so foreign that he doesn’t know what to do with them. I tried to feed him some meal replacement drink, but he absolutely _hated_ that, the same with the grain cereal mix I got from Doc Xander that he’d used with malnourished children before.”

That particular bowl of cereal had gone in the reclamation bin after Tony had tried to eat some to encourage Darius. It had been utterly disgusting.

“I don’t think he’s picky, not really. I think it’s more a mental problem than anything else. He still will only eat if there’s nobody else in the room when I feed him.”

“That makes a great deal of sense to me, Tony. Both of your reactions do.” Anara patted Tony’s knee and brushed her fingers over Darius’ hand.

Darius immediately curled into himself further, hiding his hands between his dada and himself. Tony felt guilty, knowing Darius probably understood a lot more than zy wished he did, but leaving him outside with Aaron would’ve been worse.

Anara began her explanation, “I believe that this is something I have heard of before, though I have seen it only once for myself. Of course, your situation is unique because you are already carrying a life within you, but I believe I am right anyway.”

“Right about what?”

“Tony, if I am correct, you felt an immediate, intense connection to Darius, yes?”

Tony nodded, zyr brow furrowing in confusion.

“And you feel helpless when you see him struggle and not gain weight.”

Tony nodded again, hating that zy was failing Darius.

She smiled gently, “It makes sense, then. Your spirit and your mind are in turmoil, fearing for Darius. You, especially since you are kysra and carrying a child within you, have an instinctive desire to nurture those you love. Somehow, your body has taken that desire and made a very real solution: your body is producing milk in the quantity it is because it is for Darius.”

Tony stared blankly at her.

“Wait, I’m _what_?”

“Do not look so alarmed,” Anara chuckled. “You have provided the solution to Darius’ malnourishment yourself. You are already with child, so your body did not have nearly so far to go to ready itself and begin to produce milk for your son. This is a thing to rejoice over, not dread.”

“I don’t understand. How can this be possible? People’s bodies don’t just suddenly start lactating because they’re worried.”

Anara hid her amusement by sipping her tea. “It is not common, no, but it is not unnatural or entirely unheard of. Think on this, Tony. I once knew a man whose wife was lost to a swift disease that passed through the village. She left him with a days-old baby and a very young child—a son a little older than your Darius. There was no one who could nurse the baby, and all believed she would die. The father was understandably distraught. I believed I would lose all three of them and searched vigilantly for a wet nurse. Instead, the father came to me one day, his face shining joy. You see, his left breast had begun to produce milk.”

“Wait, wait. And this guy was a regular male, not a kysra?”

“A completely average, rather thin man, actually, with little breast tissue to speak of, yes,” Anara responded with a slight smile. “And it was only the left side that ever produced milk, yet he was able to feed both his infant and his young son from that breast. All three lived. In fact, the infant grew up, and I aided her when it came time for her to deliver her first baby only a few months ago.”

“That’s crazy!” Tony exclaimed. Zy had to admit zy was more than a little weirded out by the story despite the happy ending.

“It is hardly credible, yet it happened, and it was a miracle,” she gently corrected. “So is this case. You love a child you did not birth so much that your body has begun to produce what he needs to live.”

Tony was quiet as zy thought about that. It was weird, no doubt, but would it really be so bad? Zy had planned to try nursing after the baby was born. Would it really be that different?

“We think Darius is about two—uh—twenty Satedan months. I know he doesn’t look it, but that’s what Doc said. Isn’t that too old?”

Anara shook her head, saying firmly, “Not at all. From all that I have seen, the longer a baby nurses, the healthier he will be. If this is what you choose to do, the only caution I give you is to make sure you take care of yourself and eat plenty, especially fat and protein. You will be, in effect, providing the nourishment for three lives, though you may continue to supplement Darius’ diet with solid foods.”

“What if—what if I decide I don’t want to?”

“That is your choice.” Anara shrugged lightly and refilled their tea cups. “It is your body, Tony. No one can force you to do that which you do not wish. I only tell you so that you may consider all your options.”

“But will he want to nurse from me? I mean, I’m not his mother.”

“That I do not know. I suspect that if he does not wish it, your milk will dry up until you give birth.” Anara considered Tony several seconds before jutting her chin toward Darius’ still form. “Why not simply ask?”

Tony chewed on zyr lower lip, conflicted. “I’m not sure. What if it’s not what he wants, but my milk doesn’t dry up either? It’s gotten so it hurts all the time now.”

“You can offer to give it to another child. Please believe me when I tell you any kin to an orphaned baby will welcome your contribution.”

“Because I’m kysra?”

“Not only for that reason, but yes, especially because you are kysra,” Anara admitted.

If strangers would welcome zyr milk, wouldn’t hesitate to give it to their babies, could zy really deny Darius if he _wanted_ to nurse? Zy looked down at where zy held Darius in zyr arms and tried to picture him nursing just to see if zyr brain would even accept such a possibility. Zy immediately got a rush of hormones that made zyr gasp.

“Ah, shit!”

“Here.” Anara calmly offered zyr a cloth made of very soft cotton.

Tony took the soft cloth and gingerly pressed it against the slightly pink liquid dripping from zyr nipple.

“Is that _blood_?” zy asked in shock.

“It is possible. Sometimes when a breast is too full for too long, there can be some cracking.” She took the cloth and pressed on the skin above zyr pectoral to lift the nipple without touching it. “Hmm, it does look like it is bleeding a little. I recommend releasing milk whether to your child or to another. Continuing to deny it like this may cause harm to the internal structures that allow you to produce milk.”

Tony stared at her, horrified, before taking a deep breath and making zyr decision. Zyr body may have decided for zyr, but zy was not going to offer to feed another baby before zy cared for zyr own.

Tony rubbed Darius’ back and said his name softly. “Hey there, Darius. Can you look at Dada for a second?”

Darius whimpered and pressed his face against zyr.

Tony glanced at Anara, who had backed a short distance away.

“You and your dada are safe here, Darius.” To Tony she murmured, “Just be honest. He senses your fears and responds to them. I will help you, should you need it.”

“It’s alright, my sweet Darius, my _bambino_.” Tony shifted until Darius looked warily up at zyr. “You know Dada has been worried about you and how hard it is for you to eat, right?”

Darius hunched in on himself.

Tony nuzzled the top of Darius’ head, trying to reassure him. “It’s okay, sweet baby boy, don’t be scared. You’re not in trouble, not at all. Dada didn’t know zy could do this, but zyr body changed to make milk for you. Would you like to drink Dada’s milk? Would it be easier for you to nurse from me?”

Darius jolted and gasped. Tears formed in his eyes, and he started to tremble.

“Dada? Me? Me!” His hand shook as he reached out to barely touch Tony’s chest. He pulled his hand back immediately, much as he’d done the first time he’d tried to touch Tony’s hand the night he’d snuck in to see zyr. Twin tears made their way down his cheeks. “Dada, Dada? Day-wees? Dada, me? Me Dada beebee? Dada-dada-dada?!”

Tony had to take another calming breath at Darius’ reaction. That was more than he’d spoken at one time since they’d met him. Yeah, there wasn’t any way zy could deny zyr son after seeing his reaction.

“Yeah, Darius, you’re my baby. My friend Anara is going to help us since Dada hasn’t ever done this before.”

Back up on her knees in front of them, Anara helped Tony get situated with pillows to support zyr back and arm, then helped get Darius lying down on his side in Tony’s lap, his mouth close to the already-leaking nipple. Tony’s instincts took zyr from there. Zy cradled Darius close in one arm and guided his head to zyr nipple with zyr other hand. Tony sucked in a shocked breath at the first pull. It was only zyr recent practice at censoring zyr language that kept zyr from cursing.

“That is called ‘latching on,’ and he did well. You want even a newborn infant to take in the whole nipple. If they don’t, it will hurt.”

“This isn’t exactly comfortable,” Tony whispered through gritted teeth. Comfortable zyr Italian ass. It fucking _hurt_.

“It may be because you are so full, but it may also just take time to become more comfortable. Everyone’s experience is different. Try to remember that you are in control. Even if you choose this today, you do not have to continue tomorrow. Not all mothers or daetors are able to nurse, and it is no failing if you are not able or do not wish to continue. Perhaps try for three days and reevaluate.”

Yeah. Okay, yeah. Zy could do that. Three days was nothing. Zy’d been on zyr deathbed with the plague for longer than that.

“Would you be willing to try some breathing exercises with me? It may help you feel calmer even if it does not dull the discomfort entirely.”

“Yeah, yes. Let’s do it.”

Anything to help. Tony could see Darius was so caught up in being allowed to nurse that he didn’t even realize zy was in pain. Zy would rather keep him ignorant of it if possible. Zy didn’t want to take away this method of feeding if it worked and would help Darius gain the weight he so desperately needed. Atlantis had healed him, but he had rapidly started losing weight because he wouldn’t or couldn’t eat enough.

The breathing exercises actually did help. Sitting there and breathing with Anara helped to ease the pain down to merely being the absolute worst titty-twister zy had ever had in zyr life instead of feeling like someone was trying to rip zyr nipple off, inside first, while spraying it with ghost pepper juices.

“You are doing wonderfully,” Anara praised zyr. “If you reach a point you must stop, or you sense that side is empty, slip your finger between his mouth and your skin to break the seal. You do not wish to forget to do that if the baby does not release on his own.”

Tony nodded. The emphasis she’d put on it made zyr know it was important. Besides, zy could just imagine what it would be like to hold a vacuum to zyr nipple and then pull it away, letting it pull zyr skin from zyr body until it detached. Oh, hell no! Zy was not up for that kind of self-inflicted pain, thanks very much.

Tony had been concentrating on breathing, and then on watching Darius’ mouth on zyr skin, but zy finally took in zyr son’s entire face, and it felt like zyr heart grew like the Grinch’s on Christmas morning at the blissed-out expression on Darius’ face.

“Oh,” zy breathed. Tony raised a finger to trace a delicate white eyebrow, the tiny nose, a cheek with the palest pink flush. This wasn’t just _a_ baby in Tony’s arms, it was _zyr_ baby. “Baby, my baby. _Bambino mio_.”

There was another rush of hormones that actually made Tony feel light-headed as it surged through zyr body, warming zyr chest and making both pecs feel heavy. The pain gradually lessened to mild discomfort. Tony became more conscious of the pulling feeling, of Darius’ lips and tongue working against zyr skin, and the odd sensation of fluid going from zyr and into Darius’ mouth.

Darius was making soft, hungry grunts intermixed with his swallowing sounds. His eyes were half closed, and the hand not trapped between them came up to rest on Tony’s chest. He was completely still and so focused on nursing that Tony had to wonder if he was so hungry all the time. Not that it was Tony’s fault. Zy and Ronon had done everything they could think of to get him to eat.

“He’s _starving_ ,” Tony said with a guilty glance at the midwife.

She tilted her head. “Yes and no. It seems he is quite hungry, yes, but I have no doubt that part of his urgency is what this act symbolizes.”

Tony frowned. “What do you mean? What does this act symbolize?”

“Even though he is not old enough to be firmly rooted in the culture of his birth planet, he would have seen other babies and little ones nurse and would have been aware that he had no one to nurse him,” Anara explained, her expression sad for the first time since they’d met. “Most cultures in our galaxy see nursing as a time for bearer and child to reinforce their bond. When very young, babies take as much as thirty minutes to nurse, and they do this several times per day. Older ones may only take half that, but that is still a significant amount of time devoted solely to the little one throughout the day.”

“Oh, I get it. It’s feeding him physically _and_ emotionally,” Tony said, looking back down at Darius. “That makes sense. I suppose the way I’m holding him is part of that.”

Anara hummed her agreement. “Yes, your instincts are perfect. You automatically cradled him against your chest, supporting his head and back with one arm using the other to curl his lower half around your torso. The only time you aren’t holding him to your body, you’re touching his face and hair, or using both arms to cradle his upper body even more securely against you. All of these things speak to his innermost being and tell him he is safe and loved.”

Tony could only nod zyr understanding.

“Will this help him develop better?” Anara cocked her head to one side, so zy explained, “I’m not sure how it is in Pegasus, but the Earth books I’ve read say that babies should start exerting independence in little ways from about four months on.”

Tony checked to make sure Darius was still focused on nursing before continuing, “Darius understands a lot and will do what we tell him to, but he’s missing a lot of those normal milestones.”

Anara brows drew together, and she glanced between Tony and Darius in concern. “Could you give me some examples?”

“Well, he’ll respond to instructions, so I know he understands what we’re saying, but he says about as many words as a baby not even half his age. He doesn’t do any of the babbling the books say he should except when he repeats dada or papa when he’s excited, and he’s only just started trying to mimic words Ronon and I say once in a while.”

“Does he respond to questions?”

“Not verbally. He’ll nod or shake his head sometimes.”

“I see. What else?”

“He can and does crawl and walk, but he prefers to be carried in this wrap thing that he wouldn’t fit in if he were the size a normal toddler his age would be. I think he’d be permanently attached to me if it were possible,” Tony said with a sad smile. “We dress him in clothes like this because he only likes soft textures, but the books say he should want to explore a variety of textures.

“Frankly, he doesn’t want to explore _anything_. We have toys and stuff for him, but he’s not interested unless Ronon, Aaron, or I’m holding him. Even then, we have to demonstrate how it works first and then coax him into trying to play. If we didn’t, I think he’d just curl up as close as he could get and snuggle all day. Which, I’m all for snuggling with him, but it’s not healthy that that’s all he ever wants, can it?” zy asked rhetorically.

“Then there’s the food thing, which you kind of know about. He doesn’t eat if other people are in the room, and he won’t try to feed himself at all, which the books say is a bad sign too.” Tony grimaced, then smoothed zyr features when zy looked back down at Darius and admitted softly, “I want to help him, but I don’t know how. I’m terrified I’m failing him.”

Anara asked gently, “What do you know of his life before?”

“Not much. Just what I told you. Uh, could you help me switch him first? I think he’s done on this side.”

Tony could feel the difference now that zyr breast—zy mentally winced at the word—was nearly empty. The terrible pressure and burning ache had faded. Tony felt almost normal, except for the baby still attached to zyr.

“Certainly. Before you switch him to the other side, you should burp him,” Anara instructed, her fingers flying with the yarn and whatever she was making. Tony hadn’t noticed when she’d picked it back up. “He may not always need it, but he is feeding so quickly today that he will have inhaled air with it.”

“Right,” Tony said, giving zyrself a mental shake. Burp the baby. Sure. Zy could do that. It couldn’t be that hard, right?

Looking back down at Darius, zy slid zyr finger between lips and skin, just as Anara had told zyr.

“Okay sweet boy, let’s see if we can get the air out of your tummy so you have room for more milk.”

Darius looked dazed as Tony lifted him up and leaned him against zyr chest and over zyr shoulder, one forearm under his bottom so zy could pat his back with the other hand. Darius sighed, a loud belch coming out on the tail end of it and startling him. He jolted in surprise, his little hands clenching on Tony’s bare skin.

“It’s alright, Darius,” Tony laughed. “You’re certainly a Dex; you sounded just like your papa.” Zy met Anara’s eyes. She too was smirking. “Think that’s good, or would there be more?”

“Give it another few moments, then let him nurse the other side.”

Tony kept patting, automatically falling into a rubbing-patting rhythm that had seemed so impossible when zy had seen other parents do it. Zy was fully aware that not everything would be so easy, making zyr even more grateful for the little things that fell into place.

Two smaller burps, and Tony and Anara switched the pillows around and helped Darius latch onto zyr other nipple. That side hurt as much as the other had.

“Breathing stuff again, please?” Tony hissed.

“Yes, of course,” Anara responded, immediately guiding Tony into the same exercises.

Zy was going to have to remember and practice that on zyr own. It would’ve helped to know that kind of thing all those times zy’d ended up shot, stabbed, or otherwise wounded.

For whatever reason, it seemed like the second side hurt worse for longer. Maybe it was just that zy’d gotten used to the decreased pain on the first side. Whatever it was, Tony wanted to move past it. Zy knew zy would, but it would take time.

Twice through the exercises, then a third time. It wasn’t until the end of the fourth repetition that the pain finally eased. Thank _all_ _five_ of the Satedan Five. Tony ran zyr hand across zyr forehead, taking away the sweat that had beaded there and wiping it onto zyr jeans. The jeans weren’t exactly zyr favorite pair of _Guess_ jeans zy’d worn thin, but the stretchy band at the top meant zy wasn’t stuck in sweatpants—or worse, a delt mumu—all the time.

“You are doing wonderfully, Tony.”

Zy snorted.

“I see you do not think so, but you are,” Anara assured zyr. “Trust me; I am a midwife. I have seen many babies born to many mothers. You have handled this was as much strength as the best of them.”

“I don’t feel very strong right now,” Tony admitted, curling one of Darius’ springy curls around zyr pinky finger. Despite zyr feelings of inadequacy, zy knew zy would try to continue to feed Darius this way if only because of how Darius had reacted.

If zy didn’t know better, Tony might have thought that zyr milk had some kind of drug in it because the toddler looked almost intoxicated. He was more relaxed than Tony had seen him before, even after all the bonding time massages zy and Ronon had both given him. His eyes stayed mostly closed, and it took him longer and longer to open them again after each blink.

His hand had started out tense, almost clawed against Tony’s collarbone, but now his fingers were entirely lax. Only gravity and the angle of Darius’ arm kept his hand pressed against zyr. The only times he paused in sucking were to sigh out through his nose in utter bliss. 

Anara just chuckled. “Tony, the giving of life brings even the strongest of us to breaking. That you would choose to give one child life even while another grows within you says much about who you are.”

“I didn’t though. I kind of stole him.”

“Tony, look at him. How much longer do you think he would have lived?” she demanded with a huff.

Tony frowned, automatically cradling Darius’ head against zyr and protectively covering as much of his body as zy could with zyr arm.

“I—I don’t know,” zy whispered, remembering that night Atlantis had repaired Darius’ body. She’d indicated he was in bad shape, but zy had never asked her for the list of what she’d had to do. That she had been reluctant to say meant Tony really didn’t want to know. It would break his heart even more than Darius’ condition already had.

“I will tell you then, dear Kysra. Without you to ‘steal’ him away, he would have starved until he was nothing but skin and bone. I look at him now, and I know he is very, very thin. You said he is twenty months, but he is the size of a little one many months younger, if not a full turn—a year as you say it. His body has used all its reserves. If he had been lucky, he would have died within a few months. If he had been very _un_ lucky, his death would have taken a much longer.”

Tony blinked rapidly and swallowed several times against the tears forming in zyr eyes at the thought that the toddler nursing from zyr right now could have died so easily. Zyr sweet baby boy could have been dying or dead, and zy might never have known. If Atlantis hadn’t healed him, he likely would’ve died. It broke zyr heart to realize it had been that close.

Zy leaned over, kissing Darius’ forehead.

“ _My baby_ ,” zy whispered emotionally.

“Yes,” Anara continued relentlessly. “Instead of a slow, painful death, your baby boy will live. He will nurse from his daetor who loves him so much zyr very body changed with zyr desire to provide for him. He will grow up in a place as safe as any place in this galaxy can be. He will thrive because of you, Tony, because of your strength, because you saved his life.

“I cannot tell you exactly what he has endured in his short life, but I know his life has been filled with abuse and neglect, especially after both parents died. Everything you have told me about him suggests that he perceives everything and everyone around him as a threat to his life rather than something to explore, which only makes sense. He would have been punished for moving, making sounds, and anything else that drew the attention of the adults around him and his mother. It is likely she was the one who taught him to be silent and remain in a sling attached to her at all times in order to keep him safe.”

Tony’s brow furrowed. “Oh, so being in the carrier or being held and staying silent meant he was safer, basically?”

“Yes, precisely. I am certain he also was punished for eating, though clearly there is part of him that remembers nursing and perceives that to be safe.”

“Saela said she tried to bring him food when she could after his mom was culled.”

“Then she too saved his life,” Anara said bluntly. “On every world I have visited, almost all babies born like your Darius either have their necks snapped at birth or are left to the elements and animals and die cold and alone. I once helped to deliver such a baby, and she was murdered despite my best efforts to save her. I even offered to take her myself, but her parents refused. That Darius was alive for the Vedaeus to gift to you is indeed a miracle.”

Tony’s jaw dropped, zyr horror so profound zy thought for a moment zy would be sick. Zy had to consciously remember not to squeeze Darius too tight in zyr desire to keep him safe from his past.

“Atlantis has made it clear that she will not tolerate such barbaric practices,” Anara went on, “but I fear it will never be safe for Darius to visit other worlds. His growth and development have been greatly hindered, yes; however, with your love and care, he will live. The best thing you can do is keep him close, teach him he is safe with you and within Atlantis’ structure, and let him learn life will be different at his own pace. Let him be the infant he was never permitted to be as long as he needs.”

Tony swallowed against the lump in zyr throat and cradled Darius as he nursed. He was so fragile, so precious that zy couldn’t understand how anyone could harm such a sweet baby. Zy didn’t understand how anyone could harm _any_ baby much less leave them to die of exposure. It was like some of the horror stories that delts heard about ancient Rome or less developed, modern countries on Earth.

“Ronon and I couldn’t love Darius more if he’d been born to us,” Tony stated firmly. Zy ran the back of zyr index finger down his soft cheek and found zyrself smiling sadly. “Ronon said there was prejudice against children born like Darius, but I never imagined…. Thank you for explaining. I’ll stop worrying about Darius not being where the books say he should be. Those things can be goals for later on, but I don’t think they’re too useful in this case.”

Anara was nodding in approval. “What is average varies from community to community as well. You will find your way; I’m certain of it. As I said, you are very strong. Stronger than you realize.”

Tony tried to laugh, but it fell flat. Zy looked up. “Will you come when it’s time for Darius’ sibling to be born? I’ll need someone to tell me how strong I am when I’m yelling my head off when zy is ripping zyr way out of my body.”

“Of course.” She smiled, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “If you must scream in pain to get the baby out—though I doubt you will—I hope that your lover made you scream in pleasure when he planted his seed within you.”

Tony flushed and snorted but was glad to switch to a more light-hearted topic. “I’ll tell you the truth, but it’s just between you and me.” At her nod, zy continued, “I didn’t scream, but only because I _couldn’t_ scream. I’m pretty sure I lost consciousness at least once the night the baby inside me was conceived.”

Anara threw back her head and laughed, dropping her crafting project and clapping her hands together. “Oh, you did find a good husband, then! I will keep your secret, though I may tease him if he is in the birthing room with us.”

Tony laughed too. “I hadn’t thought about it; I just assumed he would be.”

“It will be however you wish, and since it is my honor to attend you, I will be sure to time my moment just right.”

A soft cooing noise distracted Tony. Darius was looking up at zyr, smiling around zyr nipple, milk dribbling from his mouth.

“Are Dada and Anara funny, huh?” Tony grinned and grabbed the soft cloth from earlier, wiping Darius’ face and zyr own chest. “Are you done then?”

Darius’ eyes snapped all the way open, and he grunted a protest. He immediately latched back on.

Tony chuckled. “I guess that’s a ‘no.’”

Zy wiped off Darius’ hand and then raised it to zyr lips, kissing the thin, white fingers. Zy was already looking forward to the day zy would raise chubby fingers to zyr lips for a kiss. If nursing would make that happen, then that’s what zy would do.

“You’re alright, _bambino mio_. Take your time,” Tony soothed, “Dada’s not going anywhere.”

Once more, looking into zyr son’s face as he nursed filled Tony with an overwhelming feeling of pure love. This was _zyr_ baby, _zyr_ son, and he was getting what he needed to live and grow directly from Tony’s body. Tony couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in that. Tony didn’t know if that would change someday when it became routine and zy started feeling like one of Osalia’s dairy goats, but it was an awesome feeling in that moment.

“I’m not sure if Papa’s going to be jealous that you get so much time with Dada’s nipples or grateful because you’re making it so Dada feels better, which means Papa might get to have time with Dada’s nipples again.”

Tony flushed when Anara’s husky laugh pulled zyr back to the present again.

“Do not be embarrassed,” she chuckled. “You are far from the only nursing parent whose lover finds zyr nipples _tempting_ , shall we say.”

Tony’s brows shot up. “Wait, tempting? You mean they…?”

She nodded. “Oh, yes. A great many mates wish to taste that which nourishes their child, even if they do not do so more than once.”

“Huh.” That was certainly interesting to think about. Ronon with his oral fixation already—oh yeah, Tony could definitely see him wanting to have a _taste._ Zy wondered how it would feel different because there was certainly nothing sexual or arousing about feeding Darius.

“You have one you think will wish it too?” asked, eyes sparkling with mirth.

Tony’s lips quirked in a mini-shrug. “Probably. That’s okay? To let him?”

“Yes,” Anara agreed easily, “so long as there is milk for the little one—and you enjoy it too, of course—why not?”

“Huh.” Why not indeed.

A knock at the door startled Tony.

“Tony? You and Darius still in there?” Stackhouse called through the closed door.

Tony was suddenly glad zy had been speaking softly, though Ronon probably wouldn’t have minded if rumors of his bedroom prowess were spread throughout the city.

“We’re here, Stackhouse,” zy called back.

“The doc is ready to head out whenever you are.”

Tony considered zyr son. “Give me a few minutes.” Turning to Anara, zy said, “He’s not really pulling much, so it’s probably okay to take him home and finish there, right?”

She tilted her head to watch Darius, then agreed. “Yes. It’s very likely that he is full but just wishes to maintain the feeling of closeness to you. I watched you both carefully. He suckled strongly on the first side the entire time, getting the full amount. You can tell me if I’m wrong, but I think he drank quickly after you switched him to this side, but he has been drawing it out for a few minutes now.”

“No, I think you’re right.” Zy trailed zyr finger over Darius’ cheek. “What do you think, Darius? Do you want to stop for now and have more when we get home?”

Darius appeared to be thinking about it as he swallowed one last time, then released on his own.

“’ome?” he asked, his milky lips making a perfectly round ‘o.’

“Yeah, home. You can have more here, or you can have more at home if you’re all full now.” Tony gently rubbed his stomach. This was the first time zy had seen Darius full enough that his tummy was actually a tiny bit rounded. “Are you all full?”

Darius hiccupped, some of the milk coming up. Tony wiped it away gently.

“How about a burp and then you see how you feel?”

Darius cooed wordlessly, allowing himself to be lifted. He leaned into his dada’s chest so Tony could pat his back again.

“That’s my good boy,” Tony murmured, getting a burp for an answer, which amused zyr. It probably wouldn’t be as amusing the day Darius or his younger sibling spit up all down Tony’s back (and Tony just knew that day was coming), but zy wouldn’t worry about that for now.

A couple minutes later, Darius said, “Dada, ‘ome. Day-wees, ‘ome?”

“That sounds good to me. Let’s get Dada dressed so we can go home.”

Getting dressed was a process as Darius had sunk down in the void between Tony’s crossed legs and zyr body and was cuddled sleepily against zyr baby bump. Zy eased the compression shirt over zyr chest, sighing happily that, while zyr nipples were still sore, at least they didn’t feel like they were about to rip apart or burst into flame.

“You feel better,” Anara said confidently.

Tony nodded. “It still sore, but it’s a level that I can live with and so much better than when I came.”

“Ah! Let me find something. Just a moment.” She rose to her feet, quick and agile especially for her age, and went to the potion wall, as Tony thought of it, and started sniffing a couple ceramic pots until she found the one she was looking for.

Finished dressing, Tony got to zyr own feet and picked up zyr sleepy toddler.

“Here it is,” she said, handing zyr a container filled with a creamy white substance. “This is the best there is for soothing sore nipples, and it will not hurt Darius if he ingests some of it.” She laughed lightly. “Obviously, I would not feed it to him, but ingeting a little when he nurses will not hurt.”

“Thank you so much, Anara,” Tony said sincerely. “What can I do for you? I was in such a hurry to see you that I didn’t think to ask Teyla what was proper to offer you for your help.”

Anara merely chuckled and patted zyr arm. “You have done more for me than you can know. All Athosians will know that the Kysra came to me for help with zyr children, which greatly elevates me in their eyes. Your husband is not with you, which my people will take as a sign that he trusts you will be safe among us. No, Tony, you have done more than enough. You have claimed us as a people dear to you and have given us pride of place among all worlds.”

“But surely there is something you want or need,” Tony protested.

Athosian pride didn’t do anything to provide food for the table.

She simply smiled. “I am so blessed to have been here with you, Tony. Not all bearers are able to experience the profound moment I witnessed between you and Darius. Seeing you in that moment is all the payment I wish.”

“If you’re sure,” zy finally said. Tony would think of something for her later after zy talked to Teyla.

She nodded. “I am.”

“There’s one other thing. I know it probably doesn’t happen very often, but you’re in a better position to know than anyone else. I told the people of Win’nala that babies born like Darius are mine if their parents don’t want them. If you help deliver a baby, and the parents don’t want it, tell them the Vedaeus’ Kysra says you’re to bring the baby back to zyr.”

From how wide her eyes went, the request had shocked her. “Tony—are you _certain_?”

“Yeah. I don’t have a clue what I’ll do if I suddenly have ten babies, but I’ll figure it out. I can’t fix everything in Pegasus. I can’t get rid of all the Wraith, but this I can fix.” Zy frowned. “Actually, if just one parent wants the baby, or both want it but they’re afraid of what their community will do, then bring them here. The ones who want the baby, not both if they’re not in agreement. You know what I mean.”

“Indeed I do,” Anara replied softly. “I will see to it. Now come. I will see you to your friends.”

Tony let her guide zyr out of the apartment. Zy was surprised to see that the sun was below the tree tops, meaning it was past afternoon and heading into evening. Ronon would wonder what was taking so long if they weren’t back by the time he got home, which meant it was definitely time to go.

Aaron was happy to carry Darius in the K’tan again, especially since he was mostly asleep and didn’t protest being tucked back into the carrier. Tony remembered reading something about the body healing itself in sleep, so zy thought it was great that Darius was sleeping, and what he’d eaten could be put to good use right away.

Just as they were about to leave, Tony had a strange impulse. Zy turned back to Halling, who had found an excuse to come talk to SG-3…along with half of the population, it seemed, and reached out to take hold of the leader’s forearms in the customary _suren_.

“Halling, I just wanted to thank you and the Athosian people.”

“Kysra?” Halling asked, blinking in surprise.

Tony smiled. “You allowed me and my children take up a great deal of Anara’s time today. Even though I only met her today, I can tell she is an amazing person and must be greatly beloved by all Athosians. I am the Old Ones’ kysra; right now the only kysra with child in Pegasus. I ask the Five to bless and protect the Athosian people, especially Anara whom I choose to be my midwife. Her hands will catch the first kysra-born child in Pegasus since the destruction of Sateda.” 

Zy didn’t know if it zy’d lost zyr mind or if something, _someone_ actually responded to zyr request, but several things happened in an instant: everything around went completely, unnaturally still and silent. There was an electric, prickling sensation all up and down Tony’s spine that raised the hairs all over zyr body. That was followed by a deep, rumbling heartbeat-like feeling that Tony could feel through zyr entire body as if zy were standing in the middle of a dance club at midnight. The sunlight flashed brightly for a moment before a random rain cloud passed overhead, misting everyone with just a few drops of water before the wind came up, swirling the leaves on the trees and drying the drops away.

“The signs of the Five,” Halling whispered, his face white in shock.

The poor guy looked like he was about to faint. Anyone who hadn’t been watching as Tony departed certainly was there now. The braver reverently spoke the signs aloud.

“Silence’s Touch.”

“Land’s Heartbeat.”

“Sun’s Increase.”

“Stars’ Tears.”

“Sky’s Breath.”

It took everything in Tony to keep from slamming zyr hands against zyr forehead. Oh, fuck everything ever. Even all of AR-3 were staring at zyr with wide eyes. Aw, hell! If she didn’t already know, Atlantis was going to laugh her stardrive off when Tony told her what zy’d done.

Well, Tony’d learned from the best. The only thing to do when working a con was finish it right, no matter what. Zy bent at the waist, waiting for Halling to do the same so they would touch foreheads. It took a couple seconds, but Halling finally got there. They held there a moment and then let go.

Tony smiled as if zy’d totally expected exactly what had happened. “See you next time.”

Halling nodded, still in shock.

“You are always welcome among the Athosians,” he finally managed faintly.

With that, Tony turned back to Aaron and their bodyguards and started toward the nearest transporter. They had almost made it when Stackhouse broke the silence and the we’re-not-talking-about-that-shit bro code.

“So, I gotta ask. I mean, do you do stuff like that all the time, or are we special and you just thought it’d be fun to scare the crap out of us?” he asked, almost laughing.

Tony snorted. “You’re not that special. I save my truly crazy impulses for Ronon.”

“Well, thank fuc—goodness for that!” Lt. Akenzua muttered.

“It’ll be a more interesting report than I anticipated,” Dr. Corrigan announced happily. “I’ve never seen someone invoke the gods and actually get a response. I wonder if you could do it again with another people group. Do you think we could come next time you visit the Athosians?”

“Papa’ll have me tell him everything interesting that happened. I didn’t think I’d have anything, but that was awesome, so thanks, Tony!”

“Hey now, wait a second! I didn’t invoke anyone, Corrigan, not on purpose anyway. And you! Puppy, there’s no need to include that part in whatever you tell your papa!”

Aaron snickered and side-eyed zyr, saying pointedly, “I _might_ forget if we were eating lasagna for supper tonight.”

Tony gaped at zyr. “Sassy little blackmailer is what you are!”

Aaron just grinned.

“Fine, fine. Lasagna it is.”

*~*~*~*

Tony was just finishing layering the lasagna zy was making when Ronon got home.

“Hey.” Ronon made his way over to Tony and slid his arms around zyr from behind. “Is this that the lasagna thing? I love it when you make that.” he rumbled, kissing Tony’s neck.

Tony rolled zyr shoulders and mock elbowed him, smiling as zy said, “Yech! Get off me! Yes, it’s lasagna, but you smell like hot metal and stale beer, and I gotta tell you, it’s not sexy at all. Darius and I have standards, you know. We don’t let just any smelly man walk through the door and sit down to eat with us.”

Ronon’s laughed softly, pressing one more kiss to Tony’s neck before stepping back.

“Yeah, we kinda got into it with a couple people in a tavern near the market.” Ronon moved toward the door. “I’ll go clean up.” He paused on the way out. “Where is—oh.” Ronon’s voice was suddenly gentle. “There’s my beyesah. Papa missed you, but I’ll take a bath and get not-stinky before I come say hi, okay?”

Darius looked up from where he was coloring with a crayon the same shade as his eyes on the giant office flip chart paper Tony had somehow talked someone into getting for zyr and drawing basic animals Darius could color in.

“Tuh-nigh?” he said, looking up at his papa.

Tony barely managed to hold in zyr amusement as zy watched Ronon melt. Zy was doing the same thing, just not so obviously, so zy didn’t exactly have room to talk.

“Yeah, good job, Darius! My son is so smart!”

Darius’s face lit up at the praise. He chanted, “Papa-papa-papa!”

“Go clean up, Papa,” Tony prompted before Ronon ended up on the floor cuddling Darius and making them both need a bath. “Our son will still be adorable when you get back, and you’ll smell a whole lot better and not be in danger of getting thrown up on. Baby Dex is not thrilled with stale ale.”

Ronon winced and pressed two fingers to his lips, then to Darius’ forehead.

“Papa will come back soon, and I want to hear all about your day, okay?”

“Papa, me Papa,” Darius agreed.

By the time Tony had finished with all the layers for zyr lasagna and gotten it into the preheated oven, Ronon was back, dressed in clean clothes and smelling of their shampoo. He slid behind Tony where zy was loading the dishwasher and kissed zyr neck. This time, Tony turned around and eagerly returned the kiss, tasting cinnamon toothpaste.

“Better?”

“Much.” Tony slipped zyr arms around his neck and nudged their noses together, sighing in contentment and angling zyr head for another kiss.

“I take it from your expression that things went well today.”

Tony nodded, keeping zyr expression placid so Ronon would never guess what zy’d gone and done now, and the resulting conversation zy’d had with Atlantis over it.

“Weird but good, which I think might be something of a theme for me at this point.”

Ronon chuckled but couldn’t deny it. “We have a while before supper’s ready, right? Wanna tell me about it?”

Moving to where Darius was sitting on the floor, Ronon crouched down, not noticing Tony’s wince, though zy quickly covered it with a noncommittal hum.

“Hey, Darius. Dada and I are going to go in the living room. Do you want to come too?”

Glancing to where Tony had moved to stand behind Ronon to confirm that his dada was indeed leaving the room too, Darius nodded, then raised his arms to indicate he wanted to be picked up. Though they didn’t carry him all the time, they way they had initially, Darius had never actually _asked_ Ronon to hold him before, so it took a moment before Ronon realized and, quietly elated, picked up his son. He propped him on his hip, grinning proudly at Tony. Tony returned the grin and led zyr two favorite boys into the living room.

Tony waited for Ronon to sit down, then zy stripped off zyr shirts and cuddled in next to zyr surprised husband.

“Not that I mind, but….”

Tony just smirked. Darius, however, was suddenly, _intently_ focused on Tony.

“Hey, sweet boy. Are you hungry?” Tony asked zyr son. With how enthusiastic Darius had been the first time, Tony wasn’t surprised to find zyrself suddenly with a lap full of baby.

“Me? Me, Dada? Me?”

“Yes, you, my sweet baby boy,” Tony crooned. “How about this side first this time.”

Just like that afternoon, Darius slid into position and latched on easily. It was better than before, but still not what Tony would ever call pain-free. Zy found zyrself in the insane position of wishing zyr nipples were less sensitive and hoping they might eventually numb.

“Seriously?” Ronon asked, his eyes fixed on them in fascination. Tony had to do zyr best not to laugh. Zy should’ve known.

“Yeah. Anara said that my crazy kysra brain was worried about how hard it was for Darius to eat, so it got my body to come up with a solution.” Zy gave Ronon a bashful, almost embarrassed look. “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“Mind?” Ronon slid his arm over Tony’s shoulders so he could press a kiss to zyr bare shoulder. “Of course I don’t mind. I just should have thought of that before. Kysra are life-givers, so of course you figured out a way to help him.” He cupped his palm around the back Darius’ head where it was resting on Tony’s arm. “This is way better than what Doc was saying the other day about IV infusions. I hated the thought of putting him through something like that. Even having Atlantis beam food into his stomach while he’s sleeping the way we’ve been having her do has always seemed like a violation. This— _you_ are amazing, m’kysra.”

Tony was surprised. Zy’d known neither of them had liked what they’d had to resort to just to make sure Darius didn’t continue to be malnourished, but zy’d not realized the depth of Ronon’s worry. Zyr own either, obviously.

“I feel weird about it,” zy confessed, “self-conscious because this isn’t normal. _I’m_ not normal, even for a kysra. At the same time….” Zyr lips twitched into a wry smile as zy watched Ronon’s long, tanned fingers card through Darius’ white curls. “At the same time, I feel good about being the one to give him what he needs.”

Darius paused in nursing and eyed Ronon.

“Sorry, beyesah. Didn’t mean to interrupt your supper,” Ronon said, stilling his fingers though leaving his hand where it was. He pressed another kiss to Tony’s shoulder. “You’re being so good for your dada, aren’t you?”

Tony hummed zyr agreement, smiling softly at Darius. “Yep. Our sweet boy is just perfect.”

That seemed to reassure Darius, and he grunted before starting to nurse steadily again.

“I won’t ever tell you what you should do, but there’s nothing abnormal about wanting to feed our child or being able to do it. I only want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself no matter what.”

That special, soft look was back in Ronon’s eyes; the one that was only ever directed at Tony.

“I’m pretty sure this is what I want, but I’m going to try it for three days and see how I feel. That was Anara’s suggestion because while this is great for Darius, it isn’t exactly comfortable for me physically or mentally. I was intending to try to nurse our youngest when zy was born, so I don’t know how that will work. Doc Xander and Atlantis both assure me it it’s possible and normal to be nursing two babies at the same time. Both of them went over how my diet will need to change to keep all three of us healthy, just in case.”

“Sounds like a good idea—deciding to try without putting pressure on yourself if it doesn’t work out, and being prepared for whatever changes we need to make. How do you want to handle it with Wolfe and Aaron in the house? I mean, if you’re feeling self-conscious in front of me, is it going to be worse in front of them?”

Tony huffed a laugh. “Aaron already knows because zy was with me when I discussed it with Doc Xander after seeing Anara. Zy kept staring at zyr own chest and pouting like zy was annoyed _zyr_ body wasn’t the one to come up with a solution to Darius’ reluctance to eat.”

“Zy thinks everything you do is perfect,” Ronon said, and Tony could tell he was trying—and failing— to hide his amusement.

“Not sewing,” Tony pointed out with a laugh. “After managing to put a needle through my finger _three_ times now, we’ve agreed Aaron will be the sewing expert, and I’ll stop trying to learn. Part of zyr stipend and anything zy makes for the Dex family will go toward buying that badass sewing machine I bought back on Earth. Zy’s going to use zyr old machine to teach classes.”

“Good idea,” Ronon quickly agreed.

Tony couldn’t exactly be surprised at his relief, not when he’d been present during the last sewing lesson attempt when the needle had actually pierced Tony’s finger bone.

Tony shuddered thinking about pressing on the foot feed and guiding the fabric under the machine foot but not moving zyr fingers in time. Zy had suddenly realized that zyr hatred of needles could indeed apply to sewing needles, and zy had almost passed out. Everyone else had panicked, and Atlantis had ended up beaming the needle out of Tony’s finger. She’d sent nanites to repair the flesh and bone as quickly as possible, since none of them could take Aaron’s guilt-stricken staring or Darius’ frightened tears.

No, Tony would be quite happy to leave the needles to Aaron and make no-sew tie blankets. Zy could handle scissors and tying knots as long as no needles were involved _ever_ again.

“Saela is going to learn to sew from Aaron, and she’ll be our backup baby caregiver when Aaron wants a break or has other things to do. We ran into Osalia and Saela on our way back from the Athosian section, and it turns out Saela is missing Darius like crazy and would love the chance to spend time with him.”

“Huh. I never thought about her wanting to see him, but she did take care of him on Win’nala,” Ronon said with a frown.

“Yeah, I felt bad for forgetting about her too. I’ll be there with them the first time she visits to make sure Darius is happy with seeing her, and we’ll see how things go from there.”

“It’ll be good for Aaron too. Zy needs _some_ free time,” Ronon added.

“Yeah, zy does. Being our ilshan is a prestigious position—as you, all of the Athosians, and even Saela have made clear—but Aaron’s still so young zy needs to figure out who zy is and what zy wants. I don’t want to take zyr choices from zyr before zy knows zy has them.”

At Ronon’s questioning look, Tony explained, “Things are really different on Earth. It’s normal for Pegasus young adults Aaron’s age to be settled into an apprenticeship or starting their own families, but zy’s still considered a youngling on Earth. Zy hasn’t even finished zyr schooling.”

“I do forget how strange it must be for zyr here. Aaron must feel like zy’s in an odd place now: not quite an adult, but not really a youngling,” Ronon agreed, slightly distractedly because he was enthralled with watching as Tony encouraged Darius to let go so zy could burp him and then switch sides.

Tony was just grateful that zy had that cream Anara had given zyr for after Darius was finished. Zy felt raw and bruised even if there wasn’t any discoloration zy could see.

“Speaking of Aaron, I see a bunch of flower crowns, but no Aaron. Don’t tell me you let one of the Athosians run off with zyr.”

Once Darius was settled again, Tony glanced up to take in the plethora of flowers that decorated the entire living room and filled the area with a sweetly floral scent. Zy snorted.

“No, zy’s with Logan right now, but I was actually glad you or Wolfe asked AR-3 to come with us. There were a lot of people looking at Aaron as if zy were a perfectly cooked steak, not that zy noticed. Zy’s a funny mix of being older than Earth kids zyr age in a lot of ways, yet zy’s terrifyingly innocent in others. I almost wonder if there aren’t aspects of the facts of life zy’s never been taught about…. Not that I have any desire to be the one to give zyr the little kysra talk,” zy added, horrified at the thought.

Aw, crap! Zy was going to have to give that talk to Darius someday. And mini-Dex. And any other kids they got via birth or adoption. Tony grimaced and pushed that thought far, far away. Maybe zy could convince Ronon that it was the papa’s job when the time came.

“It was Teyla and Sheppard,” Ronon said with a little smirk. “I know you don’t like it when I get overprotective. I told Teyla where you were going and that you were taking Aaron with you, and she refused to leave until Sheppard assigned AR-3 to you two. Atlantis notified Halling that you’d be coming so he could keep watch, too.”

Chagrined, Tony admitted, “Well, sometimes I’m wrong. I’m glad you figured out a way around my stubborn, ‘I can do it myself!’ attitude this time. We still got mobbed by the kids, but having the team there kept the adults from doing the same thing.”

Ronon kissed zyr cheek. “You know I love how stubborn you are…it makes me figure out how to be sneakier.” When Tony laughed, Ronon recommended, “Tell Wolfe about Aaron. He’s zyr papa, and he’s gonna have to figure out how to protect zyr but give zyr the information zy needs to grow up and stand on zyr own, too.”

“Yeah, I’d really prefer not to have that talk either. We could just invite Red Eagle over and let Aaron blush zyr way through the evening. Wolfe would probably catch on.”

Ronon snickered and moved his arm so Tony could burp Darius again. “I’m all for letting Wolfe figure that out on his own, just as long as Aaron doesn’t get hurt.”

“Agreed. We have enough on our plates.”

Darius let out a loud belch, smacked his lips together, and snuggled into Tony’s neck like he intended to take another nap. Well, that’d be okay at least until the lasagna was done.

“By the way….”

Tony’s casual tone got Ronon’s attention back from where he was waving away the stench of baby-burp. He froze and looked at zyr.

“Uh, so this weird thing happened when I left the Athosians….”

Ronon’s jaw dropped when zy explained the weird impulse and the craziness that had resulted. Tony finished, “Atlantis confirmed that she didn’t do it, and then she confessed that the other Four have been in contact with her; however, she said, ‘The others and I did not part on the best terms, Tony. There are a great many things the five of us must resolve before I permit them to interact with any of my chosen or those within my structure. They could only do what they did because you effectively called upon them, though they could have ignored you. I have already expressed my displeasure that they have revealed as much as they have, and I ask that you keep this knowledge from everyone except Ronon.’”

“If they’ve been around, why didn’t she tell us?” Ronon’s frown looked almost angry.

“I asked, and she said she didn’t want to put us back in the position where we were hiding things from people again.”

“Sort of like protecting you by not telling you what’s going on in negotiations.”

“I think so.”

“I—I—I’m….” Ronon rubbed both hands over his face and shook himself when he was done. “I guess I’m not sure how to feel about them being back. Part of me hoped, but the other part is too pissed about them letting Sateda and all my family be taken by the Wraith.”

“Then maybe it’s good we have some time to get used to the idea before anybody else knows,” Tony said, grimly sympathetic. Zy had some choice words for the Four zyrself and wished zy could kick their non-corporeal asses. “Atlantis can hold them off—or she’s been able to so far, anyway—but we mere humans can’t afford to anger such powerful beings.”

Ronon grunted and maneuvered them until he was sitting in the corner of the sofa with Tony between his legs, zyr back against his chest. Atlantis helpfully produced Darius’ blanky and the soft green one for over Tony’s legs. It was funny: zy was in the too-warm stage of pregnancy, yet zyr feet were almost always freezing.

Tony sighed softly and let zyrself be snuggled the way Darius clutched and snuggled his blanky. Since he’d been back to Sateda, Ronon had periods where he sank into funks, went nonverbal, and just wanted to hold Tony and Darius both as close as he could. Once zy thought about it, it made sense that hearing of the other Four still being alive and well had caused one another of those episodes, but zy mentally yelled at zyrself for zyr bad timing. Zy had just thought about telling him when Aaron and Logan were out of the house. Unfortunately, they’d be back soon, and the lasagna would be done.

What was done couldn’t be undone, even if Tony wanted to give zyrself a Gibbs-style headsmack for not thinking it through first. At worst, one of the Wolfes would take the lasagna out when it was done, and Tony and Ronon could eat later. Then they’d have an extra-long session talking to the kyta. Those always made Ronon feel better, as did taking care of Tony. After walking around all day, zy would happily endure an extended massage, and then zy’d return the favor.

Tony relaxed against Ronon and rubbed Darius’ back while he dozed for several minutes before Baby Dex decided zy had been quiet for too long and wanted to practice zyr bantos technique on Tony’s intestines.

“Here,” Tony said, taking Ronon’s hand and pressing his fingers into zyr belly. “Feel that? Care to explain to me how your kyta got bantos sticks before zy’s even out of the womb?”

Ronon huffed, but he kept trying to feel what Tony was talking about. Tony knew the second he did because zy could feel Ronon’s lips curl into a soft smile against zyr shoulder.

“I’m not the bantos fighter. You sure you’re not having Teyla’s kyta?” Ronon teased, making Tony breathe a silent sigh of relief even as zy craned zyr neck and pretended to scowl at him.

“I’m quite certain you were there, though I’ll be sure to ask Teyla during my next lesson.” Tony’s lessons were a lot more slow stretches and tai chi-like moves than actual sparring now, but that was plenty when zyr center of balance was so out-of-kilter.

“Nope! No, no, don’t do that!” Ronon yelped. “No need; I know the kyta’s mine. It’s just zy has really strong kicks like zyr papa. The bantos thing must be from zyr dada.”

“Not to mention zy’s a full inch longer and several ounces heavier than average already,” Tony harrumphed and moved Ronon’s fingers to the latest spot to be pummeled by Baby Dex. “I’m a little afraid of how big zy’s going to get. I thought being larger than normal myself, I’d have it easy with plenty of room for the baby, but noooo. I had to go and pick a giant of a Satedan! Now the kyta’s going to be ten pounds or something.”

Ronon’s chuckle was a low sound that vibrated into Tony’s back. “So you’re saying size does matter? I heard Earthers weren’t supposed to think so.”

Tony scoffed, “I’m never going to forgive Jamie for giving you those Cosmo magazines to ‘practice your English.’”

“She even marked the helpful articles. Now I know all about how to match my boots to my—what’s it called?—skinny jeans.”

Tony clamped down on zyr snickers when Darius grunted and twitched, frowning in his sleep.

“Just wait, _caro_. I’ll get some GQ magazines for you. There are a lot more interesting articles in there. They’re even supposed to interview _Led Zeppelin_ later this year.”

Ronon groaned. “That’s those guys who scream their songs, isn’t it? I’m very sure I can live the whole rest of my life without hearing them ever again.”

“Sacrilege!” Tony gasped. “Though I guess I can’t be too surprised. Out of everything I’ve made you to listen to, you like Linkin Park. I’ve heard [_New Divide_](https://youtu.be/ysSxxIqKNN0) enough that I have the lyrics memorized.”

“I don’t like Linkin Park when he yells, but that one’s a good war song,” Ronon stated quietly after a silence long enough that Tony assumed he wouldn’t say anything.

That was more than Ronon had ever said before, so Tony made an encouraging, questioning sound.

“It reminds me of Sateda that last day when the Wraith came, and then for all the years I was a Runner. When he sings about being able to cross an endless space between, it’s like he understands having everything ripped away until he’s empty inside, and all he can do is fight to get through every day until he figures out a new reason for living.”

Ronon’s body had eased, some of the tension leaving him as they bantered. His hand on zyr baby bump had gone from pressing to feel the kyta to simply splayed flat, his thumb rubbing slowly. His other hand had moved on top of Tony’s on Darius’ back, where he slotted their fingers together.

“Even after I met Sheppard and the rest, I fought because it was all I had. Focusing on fighting kept the memories from drowning me. It wasn’t until I met you that the voices of my people stopped haunting me. I finally got to the other side and stopped fighting the Wraith just because I wanted them to die and started fighting because I want to live more than I want revenge.” Ronon grunted out something that was probably supposed to be a laugh but fell flat. “Not that I’d say no to revenge. If I have the chance to kill the Wraith, I’ll take it. I just won’t take stupid risks or suicide missions anymore.”

“You better not!” Tony growled, then had to soothe Darius’ startled shudder before continuing more calmly. “Seriously, we won’t make it without you, so don’t you dare take stupid risks. I know I’m a bad one to talk like that because I took way more risks with my own life than I should have, but I mean it: no stupid risks.”

Ronon pressed their cheeks together, his neatly trimmed beard soft against Tony’s skin. “I know, m’kysra, I won’t. I have too much to live for now. I’m not willing to give up any of our life together.”

“Good.” Zy shifted slightly to see if zy could get the kyta off zyr spleen without moving Ronon or Darius too much. “If you don’t like yelling, then why do you like that German folk metal band what’s-her-name on AR-9 introduced you to when she was flirting with you? Very, very _bad_ flirting, too, I might add.”

Tony categorically denied being jealous. It wasn’t as though Ronon was going to want anyone else when he had zyr. Even if she was hot. And athletic. And mentioned how flexible she was every third sentence. And was clearly up for _anything_ Ronon might have in mind.

Nope. Not jealous.

Ronon was silent, but Tony could feel the puffs of breath on zyr neck that said he was laughing.

“What?” zy demanded.

Zy wasn’t petulant at all, either.

“I don’t like those guys. They do way too much yelling and screaming, more even than the Led guys.”

“What?”

“I pretended because of how jealous it made you—”

“Did not!”

“—and because I thought you’d get mad and have Darius sleep with Aaron so we could have sex. Lots and lots of sex. And it worked. I could hardly walk the next day,” Ronon said smugly.

Tony opened zyr mouth to object again, but memories of that night rolled through zyr mind like a high-quality porno. Then the morning after when Ronon had fallen asleep in the shower and nearly missed his first student lesson. Tony zyrself had been so exhausted, not to mention the ridiculous amount of beard burn between zyr thighs that would’ve made working painful, that Atlantis had called Grant and told him zy wouldn’t be coming in to work that day because zy’d had a “very restless night.” Zy had been grateful that Atlantis was learning subtlety even if she still didn’t understand privacy.

Zy closed zyr mouth mid-protest. Maybe Ronon had a point.

“Don’t worry, Tony,” he said, and Tony could hear the smug grin in his voice, “you’re the only one I’ll ever want. Let me know any time you want me to prove it to you.”

Tony angled zyr head back so zy could meet his eyes.

“Damn right! You’re all mine, and everybody else can just keep their paws off!”

“Yes, meraska.” Ronon’s proud smirk belied the submissive tone of voice.

They heard the transporter doors open with a soft whoosh, and Aaron announced zyr and zyr pater’s presence.

“Oh, it smells like lasagna! I wonder if it’s done.”

“Hope so. I could eat a whole pan on my own. Let’s check on it.”

“Guess we have to get up,” Ronon murmured.

“Only if you actually want lasagna. Logan _did_ try to sneak some the last time I made it.”

 Much to Tony’s amusement, Ronon jumped to his feet right there on the sofa, shoved a throw pillow in his spot, and then leapt over the back of the sofa without disturbing Tony too much, other than having lost zyr warm backrest. He bolted into the kitchen.

“Hey, asshole, hands off! That pan’s _mine_!”

Followed by a gleeful sing-song of, “That’s five minutes in a jumper, Ronon!”

“Watch your damn mouth in front of the kid!”

“Another dollar, Papa!”

“Shit!”

“That’s two more!”

Tony rubbed Darius' back and permitted zyrself a quiet laugh. Who ever thought living with two capital-letter Alpha Males would be so entertaining? Hell, who’d have thought _Tony_ would end up so domesticated? Now, though, zy wouldn’t have it any other way.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how long this has taken, folks. Sometimes RL kicks you in the teeth...and then keeps on kicking. This is shorter than normal, but at least it's an update!

_Keplerday, BellBurnell 21, First Year of the Returned  
(August 9, 2008)_

Darius was in his little blue chair that hooked onto the counter, watching Tony and Aaron as they mixed the ingredients for the [meatball soup](https://cassidyscraveablecreations.com/meatball-soup-keto-paleo-gluten/) they were making for supper. He had _not_ liked the loud food processor, so Aaron had held him until Tony was finished processing the sort-of onion, pretty-much spinach, and definitely-garlic mixture.

Once zy was finished and the food processor out of sight, Darius had calmed down enough to be left in his seat with a small amount of cheesy cauli-yam [tots](http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/katja-wulfers-around-the-table/20150309/cauliflower-cheese-recipes) they were trying to persuade him to eat. So far, he’d taken a bite of one and smacked his lips while he studied what was left of it in confusion. He’d licked his fingers clean, so Tony was taking that as an indication that he would enjoy cheesy tots someday, just maybe not yet. That, or Darius didn’t like having greasy fingers. Either was possible. At least he was content to smash and mangle the rest while Tony and Aaron worked with sharp knives and hot pans.

“Why are we sautéing all the vegetables if we’re making soup?” Aaron asked, paying close attention to Tony’s technique as zy sautéed the vegetables in question. “They always made us do it in class, but I never knew why.”

“Part of it is a texture thing. Some things, especially our onions and garlic, won’t get tender once they’re combined with something acidic, like the tomato we’re mixing into the bone broth the Athosians made us.

Tony shook the pan rapidly back and forth, then tossed the vegetables into the air and neatly caught them without letting them or a drop of oil spill, earning a bright grin from Aaron.

“The second reason is for flavor. Sautéing, especially in unrefined avocado oil like we’re doing, releases the flavor without turning the vegetables into tasteless chunks. If you just add them and let the soup cook for however long, they’ll have turned to mush and lost most of their own flavor. I prefer to have the soup fully cooked and only add the sautéed or roasted vegetables to simmer for about twenty minutes before I serve it.”

Aaron glanced up, another question hovering on zyr lips, so Tony added, “Though like with anything else, it’s all down to personal preference. Sometime we’ll make a soup with butternut squash, sweet potato, and coriander. We’ll roast the squash for one batch and have a batch where we put it in right away and let it cook that way. Both are going to be edible, but you’ll really be able to tell the difference.”

“This is why I asked you to teach me how to cook. I mean, I kind of know what to do, enough to follow a recipe, but recipe books assume you already know that kind of stuff, and none of my teachers ever explained.”

“Well, I’m thrilled to be passing on the secrets I learned from my parents’ cooks and chefs. I’m really glad you decided on something else you want in trade for all the time you take care of Darius. You asked for fabric, but then it all got made into clothes for Darius.”

Aaron flushed and dropped zyr gaze to the soup zy was stirring. “I know, but I really like doing that stuff. I like taking care of people. Sometimes I feel like I _shouldn’t_ like taking care of babies and cooking and sewing because kysra back on Earth are forced to take all those classes even if they hate them. Now that I have a choice, it feels like I’m wrong for not choosing something else.”

“Here, these are done. Move back a little so I can dump them in,” Tony said, adding the sautéed veggies to the soup once Aaron was out of the way. “If you’re asking my advice…”

“Yes, please.”

Tony smiled fondly.

“Then the best advice I can give you is to do what you enjoy. If that’s taking care of babies and doing other domestic sorts of things, then great. If you decide you want to become a badass fighter and go out on an AR or SR team, then that’s great too. The same with if you decide you want to become some kind of scientist, doctor, or anything else. You’re the one who will have to live your life and live with your choices; make sure they’re ones you _want_ to live with, not ones you make because you think it’s what you _should_ do and then end up suffering for.”

“Oh,” Aaron mused, picking up zyr ladle and returning it to the soup pot. Zy gently stirred the veggies in with the spiced liquid. “That makes sense. Teyla was talking to me and sort of said the same thing. She said as long as I’m contributing to our people in some way, how I do that should be up to me.”

Tony readily agreed, “That definitely sounds like something she’d say. Athosians—all Pegasus cultures that I’ve heard about, really—put a lot of emphasis on being a contributing member of society. Unlike Earth, they don’t have any way to support people who don’t contribute long-term, nor do they have any jail or prison system like we’re used to seeing back on Earth. Law breakers and the non-contributing, or what we might call lazy, are shunned. If they don’t get their acts together, they’re cast out.”

Aaron gaze darted from the soup to Tony’s face. “Wait, what about people who can’t help?”

“Honestly, people who are limited in one fashion or another don’t last long, according to Ronon and Teyla. When the Wraith come, anyone not able to run and/or hide quickly is culled,” Tony explained, zyr expression twisting in disgust at the Wraith and pity for those who couldn’t get away fast enough. “Except within Atlantis’ shields, Pegasus is a pretty brutal neighborhood, Wolfe pup, and certainly not what I’d call ideal. Heck, part of what the AR teams are still doing and probably will be doing for a long time is trying to fix some of the mistakes the Earthers made because they stepped on toes in a major way when they first came here. There are a lot of worlds we’re trying to convince to un-shun us—which I don’t think is a word, but you get the idea.”

“Is it working?”

Tony used potholders made of Win’nalan fabric to pull the baked meatballs out of the oven and begin spooning them into the pot. “Well, our supper says yes. The only things that came from Earth were the cans of tomatoes and some spices. Everything else is Pegasus-grown, especially the ground aknata. Admittedly, that means I don’t know for sure if this is going to be delicious or a disaster, but I’m glad we’re making trading progress.”

Even more, Tony was glad they weren’t as dependent on Earth as they were before AR-1 had started the Apologies Tour. Several planets had heard there was a kysra with the Earthers, so they’d started making gifts to zyr that they sent home with the teams. Not to mention the gifts zy was constantly given by the Athosians. Zy’d checked with Teyla, and there wasn’t a good way to refuse them without insulting the giver or getting the giver shunned for having offended the Great-and-Mighty Oz—er—kysra. That meant Tony had plenty of fresh food, but not enough that zy could feed the whole city.

Aaron grinned at Tony, then pointedly drew in a deep breath through zyr nose, wafting the scent from the huge soup pot to zyr.

“Well, if the smell is any indication, this is going to be awesome. My stomach keeps growling!”

“If you shred some cheese people can put on top, I’ll never tell if you happen to sneak some,” Tony chuckled.

“Oh, good idea!”

Aaron handed off the stirring spoon once Tony had set down the empty meatball pan and eagerly hunted for the cheese grater and the yellow cheese that tasted like sharp cheddar.

“Any idea what Papa wants to talk about tonight? I think it’s really funny that he called a Dex house meeting.”

Tony gave zyr a sideways glance and made a noncommittal noise. “I have an idea, but I don’t want to say anything in case I’m wrong.”

“Oh.” Aaron tilted zyr head back and dropped in a pinch of shredded cheese, chewing thoughtfully. “Is it something bad?”

Tony tasted the soup, then picked up the grinder to add little more pepper. Black pepper was one spice zy wished zy’d bought more of back on Earth. There wasn’t anything exactly like it in Pegasus, so they always got excellent trade values for it.

“I guess it depends. If you’re worried, we can either talk about it and get it out of the way, or we can have supper and talk about it afterward.”

Aaron shredded in silence while zy thought about it.

“After,” zy decided eventually. “If I get upset, I can’t eat.”

“Yeah? That happen a lot?”

Tony watched zyr covertly while grinding the pink sea salt. It had come from a planet of mostly desert and wind, though there must have been oceans at some point thousands of years earlier in order to have the salt mines they did, which were filled with salt so rich in minerals that it ranged from soft pink to red with burgundy veins. It was delicious in everything from soups to the roasted and salted seaweed that was Tony’s most recent craving.

Aaron hitched one shoulder in an attempt to shrug, but zy ended up looking hunched in or zyrself.

“You don’t have to talk about it. I’m happy to see you’ve had a good appetite living here with us.”

It was an understatement, but Aaron was using a lot more energy than zy did when zy hid away in zyr room all the time. Just the training with Red Eagle was burning up a lot of energy. Aaron and Gerry both had strength training or endurance workouts every day, but sometimes Red Eagle would have them work out after he’d already given them a self-defense lesson. The Wolfe pup came home ready to eat everything including the proverbial refrigerator lightbulb on those days.

Tony didn’t get a chance to say anything more before zy heard Ronon and Logan’s deep voices in the hall.

“Papa-papa-papa!” Darius called out, kicking his legs excitedly the moment he saw Ronon. “Me, Papa! Me! Me!”

Tony laughed. Zy was pretty sure that was toddler for, “Hey, Papa! Get over here and get me out of this damn chair right now!”

“There’s my boy!” Ronon exclaimed with a wide grin.

Darius held out his arms and leaned as far over the edge as he could toward Ronon, who unsnapped his harness and freed him from his chair to lift him into his arms. Darius giggled and patted Ronon’s fuzzy cheeks, where he was letting his beard grow out a little more than normal.

“Looks like you’re havin’ a snack. Is it yummy?”

Darius hummed happily and pushed the cheesy tot he’d mangled at Ronon’s mouth in an attempt to share. Ronon ate it, unsurprisingly. Tony assumed Ronon had eaten much worse in his life than a smashed cheesy tot.

“Mmm! That _is_ yummy!” Ronon exclaimed. He ignored the grease Darius was getting all over his tunic and picked up one of the surviving cheesy tots from Darius’ tray and held it to Darius’ mouth, letting him decide to eat it or not. “Your turn, beyesah.”

Tony’s brows shot up when Darius actually opened his mouth and let Ronon feed him.

“Mmm!” he echoed with a drooly grin.

Huh. Maybe Tony should’ve “shared” with Darius first to get him to eat the tots. Zy’d try that next time.

“It certainly smells good in here,” Logan said with an appreciative look toward the massive soup pot. “Want me to set the table?”

“Yeah, bowls and small plates for salad,” Aaron intructed. “I just need to finish shredding the cheese. Would you mind grabbing a serving bowl for me, Ronon?”

Tony was proud of Aaron for having come so far that zy could casually ask the guys to do things for zyr without having a panic attack afterward.

“’kay,” Ronon agreed easily, having made his way around the counter to greet Tony with a kiss. “We need a bowl for sour cream too?”

“I think just the container is fine. We’ll probably finish that and the spiced butter in the little green container. That should be beside the sour cream or on the next shelf up. Oh, the bread should be cool enough to slice now if you or Papa want to do that. I know how you and Tony like to make your slices double-thick.”

Ronon shot Tony a wicked smile but refrained from making a dirty joke about what else they both liked nice and thick. Good call on his part, since Logan would’ve snarled at him, which would’ve scared Darius, startled Aaron, and made everyone unhappy. Tony winked at him and wiggled zyr eyebrows to indicate there would be future rewards for his self-restraint.

The two men heartily approved of the meatball soup and freshly baked bread. They praised both kysra until Aaron was flushed with pride, as zy should’ve been. Zy had made the ostem flour bread and mixed fruit compote for dessert all on zyr own. They had cleaned up as they went along, so there weren’t even that many dishes for the guys to deal with after supper.

Tony was content and especially pleased that Darius had eaten as much as he had at the table. It seemed that knowing he was going to get to nurse afterward meant he ate more rather than less. Tony didn’t quite understand the logic, but if it worked, zy was happy. Darius had already gained several ounces, which was phenomenal according to Doc Xander.

“What’s the big thing you want to talk about?” Ronon asked Logan once they were all settled into the favorite spots with cups of hot tea, or hot chocolate, in the media room—Tony, Darius, and Ronon in the center, Aaron to zyr right, and Logan on Aaron’s right—as had become their habit evenings when it was storming outside.

The meteorologists had warned that the winter would be cloudy and very wet, and they were on the money so far. The city had had rain or actual thunderstorms five days out of the last eight. Worse, the constant humidity meant 40° felt ridiculously cold. It wasn’t even close to as miserable as D.C. with its snow and sub-zero temperatures, but it certainly wasn’t the bright sunshine and low-70° to upper-80° temperatures Tony had gotten used to since moving to Atlantis. Zy had a brief moment of insanity during which zy considered asking Atlantis to relocate to a more tropical region before discarding it and tuning back in to the conversation.

“Hand me that?” Aaron murmured to zyr papa.

Logan cleared his throat and passed Aaron’s quilt to zyr. It amused Tony that Aaron tended to cuddle up under a blanket and go into a post-food coma for about an hour after eating a big meal at night.

“We need one more person,” Logan said. “Atlantis, would you mind coming to sit with us all? You’ll probably have a better idea than I do. I think we’ll need your advice.”

Atlantis appeared on Logan’s right, and Tony’s lips quivered with repressed amusement. The others blinked or twitched. Ronon actually snorted tea up his nose.

“I decided to see what you humans all find so appealing about these sweat garments,” she said, stroking one hand over her opposite, sweatshirt-clad forearm. “I borrowed these from inventory. Do not be concerned, Logan; I informed Staff Sgt. Tyght I was doing so, as I know he is quite particular about accuracy.”

“Can’t imagine he protested,” Logan said, his stoic expression failing and turning into one of perplexed amusement.

“He did not. He said he would note the change. I thought he might be concerned that I had to take the pants from the men’s section in order to find ones with long enough legs—Earthers are strangely concerned about gender labels for garments with no discernible difference except for length of leg—but he was not. I am uncertain why more people do not like Staff Sgt. Tyght. I found him quite helpful.”

Tony bit zyr bottom lip and looked down at Darius to keep from laughing at the mental image of the very by-the-book Staff Sgt. trying to tell Atlantis she couldn’t take sweatpants unless they were labeled “women’s.”

Logan commented, “Tyght’s a good guy. A little rigid, but a good guy. I’m sure he was proud to know you’d be in USAF workout clothes.”

Tony muttered under zyr breath, “Pot. Kettle. Black. Except you’d want them to say USMC.”

Logan and Atlantis both ignored zyr.

“The clothes are very soft and quite comfortable. Perhaps I shall wear them to the next meeting with Colonel Carter, Mr. Woolsey, and Dr. Jackson. I have discovered not even I enjoy wearing some of my tighter, more elaborate costumes when I have to sit for hours. Until now, I was unaware that the human expression ‘until my ass goes numb’ was not hyperbole.”

It was Logan’s turn to choke while the rest of them laughed, much to Atlantis’ confusion.

Tony’s internal prankster had zyr immediately requesting, “If you do wear sweats to negotiations, you have to save me footage of Woolsey’s expression when he sees you. I know his face looks like plastic most of the time, but I’m betting he’ll have a visible reaction. Sam certainly will.”

“As you wish,” Atlantis agreed mildly, now rubbing both hands on her thighs, appearing to be fascinated by the texture of her sweatpants.

Logan cleared his throat again, “Back to the agenda for our little household meeting.”

He shot a knowing look at Tony that said he knew if he didn’t intervene, zy would no doubt make suggestions that would have Atlantis doing things just to see if she could get Woolsey to react. Tony tried to look innocent until zy realized Aaron was giving zyr the exact same look. Tony pouted and pushed back until the footrest extended from the wide cushion zy and Ronon were sharing.

“Yes. What can I help you with, Logan?” Atlantis asked, shifting into a cross-legged position on the sectional.

“Right. First, I want to let you all know I’ve spoken with Colonel Sheppard about this, so don’t think this is something I’m hiding from my superiors. I wouldn’t necessarily bring it up, but I’ve got a gut feeling that we need to keep ahead of the problem.”

Tony frowned, absently moving Darius to zyr shoulder to burp him. It was amazing how quickly some things became routine.

“Thing is, there’s been some…well, some chatter since the mission to Sateda a couple weeks ago,” Logan began. “I’ve heard it myself, and I’ve heard things through the grape vine. People are unhappy that the recovered assets weren’t immediately allocated to teams or at least put where they could be accessed and inventoried by Earther staff.”

Tony’s own gut started tightening as soon as Logan said _chatter_. That was a very specific word: one used in intelligence communities to refer to possible enemy threats. Zy had to wonder if he’d chosen it on purpose.

As for the veracity of his statement, zy would have to check with Grant. Zy’d heard nothing about it at all, which was unusual enough to concern zyr. Most people treated zyr like a regular person. Others treated zyr like a freak or like zy was about as notable as the average plant stand. Neither group censored themselves all that much in front of zyr. If zy hadn’t heard this chatter, it was because people were keeping it from zyr on purpose.

Atlantis gave a long, deep sigh full of exasperation and resignation, something zy hadn’t heard from her before, not recently at least. “I have observed some of these conversations through my sensors in the public areas. I assumed that, though irritating, they were merely another sign that Earthers did not understand that they could not assert ownership of everything not—what is the expression?—not already nailed down. There has been additional strain since I forced the IOA to accept Halling as a voice in our negotiations.”

Tony knew zyr surprise was mirrored on zyr face. Zy hadn’t realized Atlantis had started including Halling in administrative matters. That certainly would put the IOA’s collective noses out of joint.

Logan admitted, “That might well be part of it; however, I think most of the problem is because this is the first time there has been something Earth wanted that they didn’t immediately get.”

Ronon grunted. Glancing at him, Tony noted his jaw was clenched, his eyebrows drawn down into a deep V.

“What do you mean? I thought there were lots of planets that didn’t want to trade with us because of what happened when Earth people first came,” Aaron asked, wary and confused.

“That is true, young kysra,” Atlantis explained gently. “However, it is also true that when Earthers decided they wanted something, they were able to obtain it through trade either with that planet or through another mediary such as the Athosians. Tony has been instrumental in some of the trades, as with the Lorains and the Win’nalas. Even the Asgard have permitted part of their technology to be integrated into the _Daedalus_ and other Earth ships.

“When I retrieved the Satedan items and locked them in a storage warehouse, one which Rodney has been asked to ‘hack’ but wisely has refused to do so, it was the first time that Earthers were denied access to something they believed they were entitled to.”

Aaron shook zyr head and looked even more confused. “But—but why would they think that stuff belongs to them? If anybody, it all belongs to Ronon and you! It’s not fair for Mr. Woolsey or Colonel Carter to try to take it.”

Atlantis smiled, and Tony had the feeling she was thinking the same thing zy was: naïve little kyta had never been allowed to be selfish, so zy didn’t understand other people acting that way.

“It _is_ mine,” Ronon growled, but toned down his glare when Tony pressed a warning elbow into his side in the process of switching Darius to zyr other nipple. More calmly, he said, “It is mine and Atlantis’. You’re right about that. Sheppard knew I was planning to ask Atlantis to secure it all—”

“Which I had determined I would do before you left, though I declined to inform the Earthers of such.”

“—and he didn’t have a problem with that. Teyla understands. Even Rodney got it, though he was more focused on KitKat by that point. The other Earthers have a problem because they think Pegasus people aren’t as good as they are. They think that because our technology isn’t as advanced as theirs in a lot of areas, that we’re primitives who should just give them whatever they want.”

“Not all of us think that, Dex,” Logan objected with a scowl.

“Not all of you are ass—jerks. Some of you have the sense the Old Ones gave a durwa beetle46 and know that if the Wraith found Earth, they’d cull it, then blast it back to what you call the Stone Age, and that’s if they left anything at all. They’ve done the same to every civilization that advanced to a certain point in Pegasus.”

“I understand what you’re saying, both of you,” Tony said, “but let me play devil’s advocate for a second, which means let me pretend to argue for the other side.”

They all focused on zyr, Ronon nodding sharply and Logan waving one hand in a “go ahead” gesture.

“As far as Earth knows, they’ve got some really terrifying enemies in both the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies. Both enemies are further advanced, especially the Ori, and they’re terrified. They know that it isn’t likely that former Sateda held the secret to defeating either one, but what if it did? They don’t know because Atlantis has taken the—uh—Satedan estate, for lack of a better term, and has hidden it away. To them, their people risked their necks getting the estate, so they should have some say in how it’s managed. They should at least be able to inventory it and figure out how useful it is.”

“I’ve gone on a whole lot of missions for stuff that I never saw again,” Ronon pointed out. “Just because my team risked our necks for it doesn’t mean it stopped being my stuff from my birth planet.”

Atlantis huffed indignantly. “The Satedan estate is _not_ theirs, but I am willing to negotiate for access. Just last Noetherday, I informed Woolsey and Jackson that my condition for any further negotiations is seeing proof our previously negotiated agreement will be upheld. That agreement clearly stated Earth had one Satedan week to send me the families of my approved residents. _They have not done so_ ,” she growled low and angry.

The sound seemed to echo in the room—a difficult feat considering how the walls were specifically designed to absorb sound.

“It has been nearly _two months_ —we finalized the agreement on YangHui 28; today is BellBernell 21—and not once has Earth opened the gate with the intent to send through either more kysra or the families of my long-term residents. I cannot believe all of those Earth humans declined to join their loved ones, even if they could not know where they were going until they arrived at the Cheyenne Mountain Stargate.”

Atlantis took a deep breath and leaned back. She crossed her arms, her expression turning cold and hard. “I will not allow Earthers more access, more trust, when they have not fulfilled their obligations from the last time. The only thing they have done is have what I’ve heard Earthers call ‘hissing fits’ when I included Halling in our negotiations. The Athosians are as much a part of the community we are building as any Earther if not more so, since they are from this galaxy.”

“Hissy fits,” Tony reflexively corrected, then grimaced.

Atlantis had a damn good point. She’d sent a partial ZedPM through to Earth with the stipulation that they send her the requested people, and they’d done nothing. They’d even sent supplies through since then, but there were no new civilians, not even Cattaneo’s kyta. Tony suspected the only reason zy had gotten zyr way and Jimmy and his family were in the city was because they’d outed the program by beaming Jimmy to the _Apollo_ along with Tony, Ronon, and Logan during the mission to rescue the Wolfe pup.

Tony hadn’t considered it, but Atlantis was right: Earth had technically violated their agreement, and whatever Woolsey and Atlantis had signed was void. It was not a pleasant thought, especially since that meant Earth probably wouldn’t give a damn about the long-term residencies themselves. If someone pissed them off, there was every chance the IOA or the military would try to order them back to Earth. If they refused to go, then Sheppard or Carter could get orders to turn them over to Earth. Or Earth could send the _Daedalus_ back and try to start beaming people out of the city.

Now wasn’t _that_ a gut-churning thought?

Wolfe was rubbing his fingers against his forehead. He looked about as unhappy as Tony.

“So what are you going to do?” zy asked.

Atlantis sighed tiredly. “I have reached what Earthers call ‘a line in the sand.’ If Earth will not honor its initial agreement, then I will decline further negotiations with them. I informed everyone on Noetherday that I would give them until the fortieth to provide me with a response. That allows them three Earth Mondays for scheduled transmissions, more than adequate time to send a message through to Earth and receive their response.”

She paused and pursed her lips, then added with obvious reluctance, “I feel strongly that Woolsey and Jackson wish to honor the agreement. They were authorized by the IOA, yet it seems the IOA now choose to ignore them. In all truth, I cannot predict what Earth will do.”

“I don’t understand. Why would the IOA appoint Mr. Woolsey and Dr. Jackson if they weren’t going to do what they said?” Aaron asked softly.

Tony sighed heavily and helped Darius sit up, handing burp cloth, blanky, and baby over to Ronon so zy could get zyr clothes put back together. Ronon was a natural with Darius and had him burped, covered with his Nemo blanky, and half asleep before Tony could blink. Or that’s how it felt, anyway.

Zy hadn’t anticipated needing so many zippered hoodies and soft, stretchy t-shirts that made nursing easier. Luckily, Aaron was awesome and had been able to put zippers in a bunch of Tony’s sweatshirts. Zy was considering having Atlantis commandeer a bunch of the 3XL and 4XL sweatshirts —some of those Marines had a ridiculous amount of muscles—from Staff Sgt. Tyght so Aaron could do the same to those. The baby bump made Tony’s 2XL sweatshirts tighter than was comfortable.

“…which is why I’ve always told you to grow up to be anything except a politician,” Logan finished an explanation Tony had zoned out and missed.

Atlantis was looking at Logan through narrowed eyes. “You believe it was unwise to send the ZedPM before the IOA returned a ratified agreement. That is how they can say they have not broken trust with me.”

“Yes. I assumed at the time, which was stupid on my part, that you’d already sent and received a ratified agreement. Though, if I’m honest….” Logan tucked Aaron protectively under his arm against his side, making zyr smile faintly. “If I’m honest, I knew it was my best chance to get to my kyta, and I didn’t much care about the politics that got me back to Earth.”

Atlantis nodded slowly. “Understandable. It is to be expected that a good father would  be most concerned about his kyta, especially when he knows zy is in danger. I do not blame you in the least. I believe I will need to speak to Woolsey and Jackson further on this matter. If Earth does not intend to follow through, then they are obligated to return the ZedPM. I believe there is a saying about one having cake and eating it too.”

In the awkward silence that followed, Tony had to wonder if Carter and Sheppard had realized Atlantis hadn’t received a ratified agreement back from the IOA. Zy didn’t think so, or surely they’d have warned her. It hadn’t occurred to Tony to ask, especially since Atlantis was keeping zyr away from the negotiation process in order to protect zyr.

Seeming to have resolved something in her own mind, Atlantis straightened her spine and said, “It occurs to me now and has occurred to me previously that my age and experiences have not prepared me to sit at a table and negotiate with humans as if they were equals. Nor has it prepared me for the maladroit manner in which the Earthers attempt to manage me.”

An alarm went off in Tony’s brain. “That sounds…concerning.”

Atlantis gave zyr a secretive smile. “Nothing so extreme as whatever it is you’re thinking, my kysra. I believe I would like to form a small advisory council to help me better understand those who live within my structure. How am I to negotiate if I do not know my Satedans’ needs?”

Tony met Logan’s gaze, which was equally wary.

“I suppose I thought the Colonels were keeping you apprised,” he said.

Atlantis hmm’d and tapped a neon green fingernail on her lower lip, dropping her hand back to her lap and saying, “They have done as well as they are able to within the bounds of their positions. I was thinking someone closer to the vital concerns. Perhaps even someone to advise me on correct negotiation procedure so that this… _misunderstanding_ I now find myself dealing with doesn’t happen again. I require an advisory panel with whom I can discuss what happens in negotiations, and they can tell me if my actions will be beneficial or result in further misunderstandings.”

“It would only make sense if these advisors were chosen from those you’ve already approved for long-term residency,” Tony said, seeing where she was headed. Zy offered her a knowing smile.

“Precisely.” Her eyes sparkled with supernova stars for the first time the entire discussion. “While the advisory panel would not be a secret, I would also not wish to advertise its existence. I prefer to keep my _shortcomings_ quiet. Understandable, don’t you think?”

Tony glanced around and noted that the only people in the room who were buying what Atlantis was saying were Aaron and Darius. Well, Darius wasn’t buying anything because he was passed out, drooling on his papa’s shoulder. Aaron had a little frown like zy knew something more was happening, but zy wasn’t sure what it was. Tony knew zy wasn’t stupid, merely inexperienced.

So in reality, nobody was buying that Atlantis wanted a simple advisory panel. She was setting up a Cabinet, Privy Council, or Executive Council. Whatever one called it, she was laying the foundation for a new government. The IOA was going to shit bricks if and when they found out.

“I think my advisors should all be genetic Satedans, yes?” Atlantis continued casually. “I think I should call the others to join us. We could either go into a meeting room, or they could come here. Which do you prefer?”

“Here,” Tony, Ronon, and Logan answered simultaneously.

“This is just a casual discussion, right?” Tony pointed out. “I wasn’t aware there was more than one other genetic Satedan. This’ll be interesting. But first? I have to pee. The kyta found my bladder again. Somebody help me up.”

Of all the adventures zy’d had over the years, Tony had never been involved in setting up a new government under the nose of the old one. Frankly, zy was excited or terrified… zy just hadn’t decided which.

*~*~*~*

Tony knew it was a bad idea to stand and watch the kettle of water for signs of boiling. The old adage about a watched pot never boiling felt like it was true. Zy was too tired to care and just wanted zyr damn Stash Super Mint Tea. There was something about putting something hot in zyr stomach right before bed that made the baby sleepy so zy wasn’t doing gymnastics on zyr vital organs all night. The mint helped with the acid reflux, and zy needed all the help zy could get.

If zy’d known back when zy’d met Ronon that getting knocked up would give zyr nine Earth months of digestion dysfunction, zy never…well, wait. Yeah, zy totally would’ve done the same damn thing, but at least zy would’ve been prepared!

 “Tea?” Logan grunted from one of the bar stools at the counter. He was staring into his empty coffee mug with a slight frown, affronted by its refusal to magically refill itself.

“Yeah. Want some?”

“No, thanks.”

“Aaron all tucked in?”

Logan huffed and rubbed the side of his face. “Zy has been patient with my treating zyr like a little kid, but Aaron finally put zyr foot down tonight and told me that zy is not Darius’ age anymore and didn’t need me to make sure zy had a glass of water. If zy needed any extra blankets, zy’d just have Atlantis get them for zyr. If I wanted to do something, I should go to bed myself because I was starting to look like something zyr Uncle Rodney’s meura dragged in.”

Tony laughed a little and shook zyr head. “Zy is seventeen, not seven.”

“Yeah, just you wait. You’re going to have two you have to learn how to let grow up. I can hardly wait to see the first time Darius tells you to back off.”

“I know. I’m only laughing at you now because I know you’ll be the one laughing at me someday. You’ve already had entertainment at my expense because I thought Braxton-Hicks contractions were the real deal and flipped out.”

Tony was sure zy wasn’t the only pregnant person who’d worked zyrself into a mini-panic attack the first time they’d had some intense “practice” contractions. At least it had happened in front of Logan instead of someone like Sheppard or Rodney. They either would’ve panicked too, or they would’ve mocked zyr for all eternity. Probably both.

“Point,” Logan conceded. “Ronon putting Darius to bed?”

Tony nodded and perched on the stool at the end of the counter. Maybe if zy didn’t watch the damn kettle, it would finally boil.

“He’s been pretty good lately about sleeping in his own bed in the nursery. I’m hoping that’s where he’ll end up tonight, but there are no promises even though Atlantis came up with a warming blanket for his bed.”

“Anything cold means scary and unsafe, doesn’t it? Poor little guy.”

“Yeah.” Sadness turned Tony’s lips down at the corners. Nobody could’ve prepared Tony for how much it hurt when zyr child was hurting or afraid. “I’m really glad Xander talked to Atlantis about specifically requesting child psychologists and therapists. He made a good point about all kysra, no matter their ages, needing counseling when they get here, especially since she’s aiming for orphans and abandoned children first.”

“Those kids’ll all need therapy no matter the gender,” Logan agreed. “I think Dr. Picard is going to work out for me and Aaron, but that’s because Aaron is mostly grown.”

Tony sighed. “He seems like a good guy, and the scientists especially seem to like him, according to Rodney. Picard was up front with me about having worked primarily with post-adolescent young adults and adults, especially those within high-stress academic environments. That makes him perfect for the city in general, but not for what my little family needs.”

“I’d say Doc X could help, but he was looking a little ragged around the edges tonight.”

“I noticed that too. I think the city is big enough now that the departments need to look at having administrative coordinators who are the gate-keepers for people like Carter, Rodney, and Doc Xander. I know those two Corporals have been filling in, but as long as they’re within the military chain of command, there’s always going to be someone who can order them aside.”

“So you said.”

“Shit, did I?” Tony yawned and rubbed the heels of zyra hands against zyr closed eyelids. It had been a long-ass day.

Of course, that was when the kettle finally boiled and started whistling.

“Sit. I got it.” Logan ordered.

Tony didn’t bother protesting. If zy could have, zy probably would have laid zyr head on the counter, but the Bump was in the way of anything that involved bending forward. Or backward. Or to the side, really. Zy looked like zy had tried to stuff a wrecking ball under zyr shirt; zy was about that comfortable, too.

Logan poured the hot water into Tony’s favorite coffee mug—one zy’d gotten for Gibbs and decided zy liked too much to give to the bastard—and brought it and the tea bag over to zyr.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Who do you see taking over as Walter for the department heads? Ah—that probably means nothing to you. Think of a real-life, less naïve Corporal Radar O’Reilly from M*A*S*H*.”

Logan retook his seat, frowned, then picked up his grenade mug and headed back to the tea pot. “You still got that decaf Hazelnut Mocha tea?”

“On your left—no, your other left.” Logan shot Tony a look over his shoulder, but zy ignored it. Pregnancy brain was a bitch. Zy didn't want to know how many times zy'd thought one word and said something totally different just that week. “Radar, jeez. Carter absolutely needs a Radar O’Reilly. Except a civilian or someone with a high enough rank that he could tell the idiots to get lost without it being offensive. I’d say Michelle, but we need her as our secretary-slash-legal expert, and she isn’t exactly the right type to make like a wall in front of Carter’s office.”

Logan smiled faintly. “She’s got chutzpah when she needs it, but she has to work up to it instead of having it come natural to her. I don’t think she’d do well with that kind of stress every day.”

“The IOA put Carter in an impossible position, you know.”

“Didn’t we discuss this before?” Tony looked up when Ronon returned to the room, gladly leaning back in zyr chair to let him massage zyr neck and shoulders. “Darius asleep?”

“Yeah. Our bed for now.”

Tony sighed. Ronon was even worse about being incapable of getting Darius to do something he didn’t obviously want to do, so zy should’ve guessed. “I was just talking with Logan about why Carter needs an admin.”

“We sort of talked about the IOA setting her up to fail a while back, but now I’m talking about the actual logistics of running a military base.” Logan told them. “The IOA sent an officer who outranks everyone else. The second they did, this became a military base whether or not the meant it to happen.”

“Never should’ve been civilian-run,” Ronon growled, his grip making Tony wince and squirm until he let up. “Never should’ve been run by _anybody_ who didn’t understand war.”

“I don’t know about that, but it sure as hell shouldn’t have been run by Weir _._ Even if she hadn’t been nutty as a fruitcake, she had no business being in charge of hundreds of people like we started with or the couple thousand we ended up having after reestablishing contact with Earth.” Logan shook his head and continued, “The way things are, the chain of command requires that Carter be the head of the military. Sheppard is her deputy commander, Lorne is the XO, and I’m the senior NCO.”

“You know we understand how the military ranks work, so you must be saying it’s not working that way right now,” Tony stated, pushing back into Ronon’s fingers. He’d found that spot just beneath the wing of zyr right shoulder blade that knotted up when zy sat too long doing paperwork. “That’s not a lack of an admin assist problem; it’s a chain-of-command problem.”

Logan narrowed his eyes and stared at zyr before grunting and sipping his tea. “Unfortunately, you’re right. Carter and Sheppard are busy trying to pretend that Carter is some kind of civilian leader like Weir was, yet they still try to run things like the military demands. Balls are getting dropped in the pass-the-paperwork game. The only one who doesn’t do that crap is Lorne. I suspect he’s the one actually running the show, though he’s gotten damn good at forging Sheppard’s signature.”

Logan restlessly ran one hand through his hair, unintentionally making a mess of the short waves and increasing his resemblance to Aaron.

“To be honest, the city got damned lucky Lorne got hurt and had to give up going out with his team. Looking back through the records, I can tell he caught a hell of a lot of errors and missing reports that Sheppard or Carter or both should’ve done. Nothing that would’ve meant the difference between life and death, but stuff that definitely would’ve bitten us in the ass by now.

“My biggest problem with him is that he’s been taking on so much of their shit that I’m concerned he’s going to burn out. Frankly, I don’t know how the hell he’s managed to be home long enough to date much less make a baby with Teyla. I don’t think that guy ever manages to sleep anywhere but at his desk.”

Tony grimaced. Lorne was sounding way too much like Tony back on Gibbs’ team, though zy hoped he wasn’t being physically and psychologically abused like zy had been. That Sheppard and Carter hadn’t noticed was bad enough.

Zy could tell without looking that Ronon was scowling when he said, “Chain of command is supposed to stop that kind of thing. That’s why it exists. Gotta know who’s responsible for what, and whose ass to kick if it doesn’t get done.”

“It would, but it would take Carter and everyone else realizing that she can’t be both a military colonel _and_ a civilian representing the IOA.”

“What would you do?” Tony asked, partially out of curiosity and partly because zy could tell Atlantis was still observing even if she wasn’t actively participating in the conversation.

“Streamline everything: one person at the top, then divide into military leader and civilian below.  The IOA didn’t have a terrible idea in sending Carter because the person at the top has to be able to command the military, but it should’ve been an official restructuring. The only people who think it wasn’t are the IOA and the civilians. The military all think it was a shitty handover meant as an insult to Sheppard.”

Tony could understand and even empathize with the conflict Carter must be dealing with trying to be military and sort-of civilian IOA commander of the city. It was stupid to think that anyone could manage that balancing act.

“They were probably trying to prevent the military from giving civilians orders,” Tony acknowledged, “but they aren’t doing anyone any favors by dividing the military, unintentionally or not.”

Zy carefully leaned forward, balancing both forearms on the counter to steady zyr, so Ronon could reach zyr lower back. It was all zy could do not to let loose with a pornographic groan when he got to muscles that had tensed to the point of knotting from carrying the weight of the baby.

Wolfe snorted and flicked the label of his tea bag with one finger. “I’m sure the IOA has nightmares about the military in charge, especially the US military. Too bad all they managed to do was screw up what was working…for the most part. There were problems before Weir died, too.”

Tony warned, “I’m positive the IOA won’t agree to put somebody officially military in charge.”

“I know that,” Logan growled, then heaved a sigh. “I don’t want the IOA sticking their fingers in any pie, so I wouldn’t anybody representing the IOA in that chair. That’s the only reason I’ve let this go as long as I have—that, and nothing has escalated to a crisis yet. It will though, and soon. This thing where mom and dad aren’t sure whose authority stops where is a disaster, and the kids have noticed and are going to start playing them against each other. A major shouldn’t be the one picking up the slack, not with a full bird colonel and a light colonel above him.”

“Having a loyalty split will kill us long before problems with paperwork manage it,” Ronon agreed. “Talk to them all. You just said you’re one of the top four people in the city. Talk to them and tell them they’ve gotta figure it out, or we’re all gonna have problems. If the city fails because of internal problems, it won’t take the Wraith to finish us off. Believe me,” he added darkly. “If you keep letting this go, then you’re part of the problem. Feeling bad about it won’t change it.”

“Dammit, Ronon, I know that!” Logan snarled. “I know I’ve held off as long as I could with trying to subtly tell them there’s a problem. Hell, they probably don’t realize it’s happening. This is Carter’s first command other than small groups of scientists. She wasn’t even an SG team leader. And Sheppard...” He shook his head. “Sheppard had very little command experience before he got to the city, and then….”

Tony offered a bastardized quote, “Then he had command thrust upon him?”

“Right. Plus dealing with Weir, leading AR-1, and trying to fight the Wraith. Poor bastard must have stomach ulcers the size of potholes.”

“Can’t be everything to everyone,” Tony said realistically, thinking that applied to Carter just as much as Sheppard. “The four of you are going to have to figure out what roles you want in the city regardless of what you’re called. You’re not going to make everybody happy, but you and Lorne taking the brunt of the shit that’s rolling downhill isn’t making anybody happy anyway.”

Ronon flatly ordered him, “No negotiations any time soon. Talk to them and get it fixed. Reality and the Wraith don’t care who gets butt-hurt about chain of command stuff.”

Tony would’ve turned around to glare, but zy didn’t want Ronon to stop what he was doing on zyr back. “Where the _hell_ did you get that expression?”

“Couple Marines,” Ronon said, and Tony didn’t need to see him to know he was smirking. “Like it?”

“No. Unless you’re a twenty-something with a shoe size larger than your IQ, you don’t get to say that again.”

“Yes, meraska,” he replied with exaggerated submissiveness, making Logan snort a laugh on his way to take his and Tony’s empty mugs to the sink.

“I have my marching orders, so I’m going to leave you two for more important things—like _sleep_.”

They exchanged good nights, and Tony shook zyr head and slid from the stool and groaned as zyr back muscles tensed up again. “Let’s go to bed before I fall asleep out here.”

“Okay. I left the warming blanket off your side. I know you get too hot.”

Tony eyed him skeptically. “Darius sleeps in the middle.”

Ronon seemed to consider that. “I left the warming blanket off half of your side.”

Tony huffed a laugh. “I appreciate the thought, _caro._ ”

Zy yawned and started the long, long waddle to their bedroom, well aware of how lucky zy was to have a husband who thought about those kinds of things at all. Besides, it wasn’t worth getting worked up about being too hot when there were so many other things happening. Depending on how Logan’s conversation with Carter, Sheppard, and Lorne went, there would be more than enough excitement.

*~*~*~*

//Aaron?//

“Hmmwhassit?” Aaron slurred, still mostly asleep.

//May I put Darius in bed with you? Tony requires Ronon’s assistance in dealing with a hormone spike, but Darius did not stay asleep when put in his own bed. I do not wish him to become distressed and interrupt them, as I have noted that Tony becomes quite disagreeable the next day if interrupted during copulation.//

It took several seconds for Aaron to process Atlantis’ request. Once zy understood what she was saying, zy could feel zyr face heating in a blush.

_Oh geez, I hope I’ve forgotten that part by morning, or I’ll never be able to look either one of them in the face ever again!_

Not like zy didn’t know, because there was a baby on the way and not via mythical stork, but zy didn’t want to _know-_ know when Tony and Ronon were doing those sorts of things together.

“Issokay, gimme,” Aaron croaked out.

Already on zyr side, zy raised zyr top arm, then brought it back down to cuddle Darius when he was beamed next to zyr beneath the covers. At least zy didn’t have to get out of bed. It wasn’t the first time Atlantis had asked zyr to take Darius, but it was the first time she’d been so explicit about why. Aaron had just thought the other times were because Tony was _asleep_ , not getting laid!

“Ah-wen?” Darius said, sniffling like he was on the edge of tears.

“Baby Dari, wanted to cuddle with you tonight, okay?”

“Uh-huh.” Aaron could hardly see the toddler, but zy felt him turn and snuggle into zyr chest. “Nemo?”

“Right here,” Aaron murmured, touching the satin on the boarder of the Nemo blanky to Darius’ hand and letting him grab it. He heaved a contented sigh and squirmed once before stilling, his breathing going quiet and even.

Aaron yawned and drifted back to sleep.

*~*~*~*

Atlantis was the most awesome wingman (wingwoman? wingbeing?) ever, Tony decided in the middle of the night. She had warmed Darius’ bed and beamed him into it during one of Tony’s many trips to the bathroom, so zy was free to wake Ronon for adult nighttime activities.

Zy shed zyr pajama pants and slipped back beneath the covers. Zy propped zyrself on one arm and leaned into Ronon’s side where he was sleeping on his back, his arm up on the pillow above his head.

“Ronon,” zy murmured, splaying zyr fingers over his chest, then drawing invisible patterns on his smooth skin. Zy leaned down to kiss his bare shoulder. “I’m horny, and you need to help me out, here. Not exactly romantic, but be honest: do you really care?”

Tony talked and petted him forever—well, at least a full minute—but Ronon slept on. Tony decided to take a more direct route and slid zyr hand beneath the blankets and into Ronon’s sleep pants, cupping his balls and rubbing the heel of zyr palm against the base of his cock.

Ronon twitched.

“C’mon, husband-mine. I’m so horny I almost jerked off in the bathroom, but then I decided this should be a team activity—mostly because I can barely reach around the Bump anymore—so hurry up and wake up so we can get this show on the road.”

 “Hnnnng?”

“Finally!” Tony grinned.

Ronon blinked rapidly as he woke and took in the situation. It didn’t take his cock as long to get with the program. Tony curled zyr fingers around it and began stroking it to full hardness in less time than it took Ronon to grunt out zyr name.

“Of course, unless you have any other knocked-up, horny spouses wanting to go for a ride—and I don’t mean in a jumper.”

Ronon snorted, quickly getting with the program. After all, it was hardly the first time Tony had woken him for middle-of-the-night emergency sex. He lowered his hand to the back of Tony’s head and drew zyr down to kiss. Tony kissed him eagerly, licking then sucking on his full lower lip. Ronon brought his other hand to Tony’s hip, stroking zyr skin and moving to zyr grip zyr ass.

They automatically angled their heads, and Tony licked into Ronon’s mouth, twining their tongues. Ronon rumbled low in his chest, and the next kiss was one of those deep, passionate ones that left Tony breathless, wanting more, and wanting it _now_.

“I wanna ride you. Can I ride you?” Tony whispered urgently. “I’m seriously about to come right here, right now.”

Ronon growled and shoved the blankets away and lifted his hips enough that they managed to get his sleep pants off—mostly. Tony couldn’t take waiting any longer and swung zyr leg over his hips. The first touch of his cock against zyr opening made zyr groan. Zy fumbled trying to reach around zyr huge belly; Ronon had to take over steadying his cock so zy could sink down on it.

“So good,” Tony moaned, zyr head falling back in pleasure once zy was all the way down. Zy circled zyr hips and moaned again at the stretch and fullness. Ronon made zyr so fucking _greedy_. Zy never used to want a hard cock inside zyr, but now zy wanted it all the time, and zyr hormones were making zyr worse about it…not that Ronon seemed to mind.

“If you don’t stop working your muscles around me like that, I’ll come,” Ronon warned.

“Doubt it,” Tony huffed.

Zy started lifting up and sliding back down, one hand stretched behind zyr on Ronon’s thigh for balance. They’d hardly started, but zy hadn’t been kidding about how ready zy was. Or zy didn’t think zy’d been. As it turned out, lack of breathing room due to the kyta had Tony slowing down long before either of them could come.

“Sorry,” zy panted.

Ronon growled inarticulately, his own desire transforming into impatient need and making Tony smirk until zy suddenly found zyrself on zyr back with Ronon on his hands and knees over zyr. Before zy could protest that being on zyr back definitely wouldn’t help the whole breathing thing, Ronon was manhandling zyr onto zyr side and lifting zyr upper leg up until zyr knee could hook over his shoulder while straddling zyr lower leg on the bed.

Ronon bared his teeth at zyr ferally as he shifted his stance lower and pressed back inside zyr.

“Told you doing all that yoga-stretching stuff would be a good idea,” Tony gloated, shifting zyr hips to ease some of the stretch in zyr inner thigh muscle, especially when Ronon bent forward to give zyr a fierce kiss.

Ronon didn’t bother with starting off slow. He snapped his hips hard, fucking deep and rough the way they both wanted it in that moment. Tony had to brace one arm against the bed, and the other hand up against the frame above zyr head just to keep in position. Being on zyr side made Ronon’s cock penetrate at a different angle, one that had zyr making helpless grunts of pleasure into the pillow.

Ronon was holding zyr thigh tight against his chest with one hand. He ran his free hand all over Tony’s body and finally down to curl around zyr cock in a nearly too-tight fist. He started stroking in time with his thrusts, and with every stroke, he chanted, “Mine, mine, mine!”

Tony couldn’t even pretend zy didn’t like the primitive, possessive part of zyr husband that sometimes came to the fore during emergency sex. Ronon controlled himself so strictly most of the time that it was really hot to see him lose control that way, and even better to know that Tony was the one who’d made it happen.

“Yesss!” Tony hissed, trembling hard on the verge of orgasm, “you’re _mine._ ”

Ronon’s hips stuttered, and he shouted something inarticulate as he came. The feel of Ronon pulsing within zyr sent Tony over the edge and into white-out ecstasy, zyr eyes rolling back in zyr head.

When zy came back to zyr senses, Ronon just managed to separate them and fall to the bed beside zyr.  At least he was panting equally hard.

“Good?”

Tony gave a satisfied hum and stretched out zyr legs. “Awesome. Blankets?”

“Clean up in case Darius comes in?” Ronon countered.

//He is asleep with Aaron,// Atlantis told them both, sounding resigned to their strange, human behaviors.

Tony smothered a laugh as Ronon wiped them down with his discarded sleep pants and then pulled the covers over them.

“You’re the best husband ever,” Tony praised Ronon before yawning so huge zyr jaw hinges cracked, making Ronon wince. "Sorry."

"Sleep, m'kysra."

Tony curled against Ronon and prepared to obey, at least until the kyta stomped on zyr bladder and zy had to get up yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **46** durwa beetle: (DUR-wah BEE-tul) type of Satedan dung beetle
> 
> ********  
> I didn't think it would be necessary to state, but Aaron and Tony's discussion was not meant to be a commentary—positive or negative—on any society or system of government. This is _fiction_ and for fun, people.


End file.
